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KIDS IN ACTION The Internet TV Station Run by Kids | ||||||||
Hometown Kids' Broadcasting Kirigaoka is an Internet TV station with a difference. This high-quality station is run by kids in the Kirigaoka district of Tokyo. The children plan, produce, and even appear in the station's original programs, which last from three to seven minutes and can be viewed on the station's website. The programs often feature scenes from the lives of elementary schoolchildren. The titles include "Autumn Festival," which introduces a fun school festival with dances and traditional Japanese drumming, and "Puppet Theater Anyone Can Do," a record of a puppet performance at the local children's center. The TV station is located in the Kirigaoka Children's Center in Kita Ward, Tokyo. Every Sunday morning, the children and the adults who help them gather together for a planning meeting, where everyone eagerly puts forward their ideas. The Kita Ward Community Organization for Children (COCO) has been supporting the station since it went on the air in January 2006. According to Kimura Fusako, a COCO representative, "There are several stations for children in Japan, but almost none of them have children involved at the initial production stage. This station is the first of its kind, and everybody's trying really hard to make it a success." The station is currently run by eight fifth- and sixth-grade students from Kirigaoka-sato Elementary School and eight adults who assist them and maintain the station's website. The group has produced more than 20 programs on local events and history so far. The children on the staff play a central role at all stages of production, and their work keeps them very busy. To get stories for programs, they walk around town taking notes on things that catch their attention and discuss the ideas they come up with. Once they decide on a program, they choose who will be on the camera crew and who will cover the story. Yakubo Takashi, a sixth grader who loves broadcasting and cameras, has been part of the camera crew from the start. "At first he made some mistakes, like filming people from the neck down, but now he's really good with the camera," says Ms. Kimura with a laugh.
Takano Akiko, a fifth grader, recalls, "Once I couldn't stop laughing when they were filming us, and it took about six or seven takes to get it right." Akiko says she joined the station because she uses a computer at home and was interested in Internet broadcasting. She frequently appears on screen as an interviewer and narrator in a series of programs called "Akabane Montmartre Story," about a colony of artists who used to live in Kita Ward. Akiko talks about some of the challenges of interviewing the artists. "After I finished asking the questions I'd prepared, I had to think of new ones while we talked, which was really hard. I also couldn't use honorific Japanese very well and had a hard time responding to the artists' comments. But I'm really glad I had the experience. The best part of all is that I get to do this with friends." Akiko says her ambition is to make an entertaining, variety-type program. Her face lights up as she thinks about the new experiences that lie ahead. |
