Electricity, Radio, TV and Computing

Electricity, radio and TV

The line frequency in Tokyo is 50 Hz, and the line voltage is 100V. Most electrical and electronic devices from America (60 Hz, 115V) will work fine in Tokyo. However, beware of digital clocks, some of which may synchronize their clocks to the line frequency. Some AC motors may run very hot because of the change of line frequency, and some heating elements, like that in an electric wok, will be significantly cooler due to the lower voltage. The plugs are the two parallel blade type (like those used in America). Grounded (3 prong) sockets are scarce; you must buy a 3-prong to 2-prong adapter. The Japanese adapters will often have a wire that can be attached to a grounding screw which is available on some power outlets (usually the ones that provide the most power such as those for washing machines, dryers, and air conditioners).

The AM radio band is 500-1600 kHz, and the FM band is 76-90 MHz. In the US and Europe the FM band is 88-106 MHz. Please check for compatibility with your home country.

The TV broadcast system here is NTSC, as in America. American VCR's and televisions will function here, with certain restrictions. The Japanese frequencies are different in general from the American frequencies, and thus if you want to receive all the Japanese channels you must have a cable ready TV or VCR (one that gets 100 or 120 channels). The video output of your American VCR (US channel 3 or 4) will not work with a Japanese TV, as that frequency is in the FM radio band in Japan. However, most Japanese TV's have a direct video input, which will allow you to take the direct video signal into the TV. Also, you can buy multi-system VCR's here, which understand NTSC, PAL, SECAM, and many other TV dialects. These are of course more expensive.

There are advantages for having a Japanese stereo/bilingual TV. There is a bilingual broadcast system here, where a subcarrier modulation carries, for example, the original soundtrack of a movie which on the normal audio channel has been overdubbed into Japanese. Some newscasts are translated on the subcarrier, and several times a week foreign movies are shown which make use of this system. However, an American VCR or TV will not pick up this subcarrier. It appears that some details of the modulation differ between the two countries, so that even if you have a Japanese TV, when you run the input through an American VCR, the bilingual channel is somehow stripped and lost. Thus you cannot record the bilingual broadcast on your American VCR. However, many inexpensive portable FM receivers can decode the subcarrier, and it is possible to use the audio output from such a receiver as the audio input for your VCR or TV.

You can buy a small TV (about a 13 inch diagonal screen) with direct video input for 30,000-yen or more. A VCR with bilingual capabilities is slightly more, perhaps from 45,000-yen on up. A good place to shop for electronic goods is Akihabara, on the east side of town, but often your local store may have a slightly better bargain. Be aware that the TV and VCR you buy here will be labelled in Japanese!

Computers

The most popular computer in Japan is the XT/AT equivalent NEC PC. This computer runs the DOS operating system, but many of your DOS programs will run somewhat differently on an NEC. The graphics subsystem is somewhat different, as it is used to create kanji on the screen, including system messages. The floppy disk system is a 1.2 MB, 3.5 inch diskette, a combination perhaps not found anywhere else in the world. The NEC will also talk to a 1.2 MB, 5.25 inch disk, so it is possible to transfer data to and from an IBM PC, which uses the same file system.

IBM compatible machines are rare here, and rather expensive, with most prices in Japan being twice that in the US. If you own a machine, or some favorite software, you may wish to consider bringing it with you (if the line voltage difference is a problem, wall current transformers are available in Akihabara). The Intel-based IBM compatibles seem to be gaining a little popularity here, as the advantages of that huge software base are becoming clear. If you absolutely need an IBM DOS machine on your desk, you had better arrange with your group leader ahead of time to allocate funds. Also beware, HP LaserJet type laser printers are not as common as in other places, and you may have to search for a suitable output device. However, there are many postscript printers (mainly Apple) in Japan, due to the ability to handle Kanji characters.

The Macintosh is also a popular machine, since its superior graphics allow the use of Japanese characters on screen. The Macs here are equipped with both English and Japanese operating systems, which can be switched at a mouse click. However, there are still some bugs, as some applications behave differently under the two systems, and some will not run under one system or the other. Use of the Macintosh is increasing in Japan, and a large software base is available. However, often the application is in Japanese, or at least, the manual is in Japanese.

For those researchers doing "serious computing," it is best to check with your group leader before you arrive to confirm availability of tape drives etc., which you will need to load your software. Most of the workstations at NTT have access to the international Internet, so it may be possible to transfer data, programs, etc. electronically if you have access to other computers outside of NTT. NTT has some modems for dial-up access, but they are few and not available for every NTT computer. Modems made for the American market are compatible with the Japanese ones (at least to 2400 baud).

Newsgroups

NTT has a large usenet "news" database containing newsgroups on subjects ranging from science to popular music. These can be accessed in several ways depending on your computer and preferences. If you use Gnu Emacs (or its Japanese-capable sibling "nemacs"), there is a convenient interface that allows to read and write news through emacs buffers. To enter it, type "meta-X gnus" within emacs. The gnus interface allows mail to be read over the network so that the news need not be stored on your local host. You may have to configure your emacs start-up file to specify a particular host from which to read the news. Once gnus is running, you can read the on-line documentation by pressing "ctrl-C TAB". This will provide a far more complete introduction than we can give here.

If "gnus" is not available or you don't use emacs, other programs such as "readnews", "rn" and "rrn" may be available on your computer. Try the Unix command "man -k news" to find programs relating to news on your computer. If you find one, look at its manual entry to get a description of how to use it. Ask your system manager if you can't find one.

There are several general newsgroups that may interest you:

ecl.general: events and topics related to all of the Electrical Communication Laboratories
ecl.followup: follow-up discussions from articles in ecl.general
nttgroup.papers: discussion of important scientific papers
fj.life.in-japan: issues relating to foreigners living in Japan (forthcoming)

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