Many of the early-morning shows seem to have this clock. Though, maybe it's just one station.. Why does Japan feel it needs this?

I've seen that in australia and new zealand too. Must be a morning show thing.

Could be because people watch it before work. With a clock in the corner, they wont lose track of time.

Hmm...that's not too bad.

I remember when I learning Spanish years ago that I used to listen to a radio programme on a station called Radio Reloj (= Radio Clock) where they read out the info / news etc. against a constant stream of clock ticks, and the time was announced every single minute. Gets kind of tedious after a while though...

They have it in the UK on some channels as well.

It's a death-clock. Lots of elderly folks watch morning television.

Rujiel Wrote:Many of the early-morning shows seem to have this clock. Though, maybe it's just one station.. Why does Japan feel it needs this?

All of the morning TV shows in my area have clocks too - and I just live one state above you. So, unless things are drastically different in California then I can only imagine that your TV stations have them as well.

There is also a clock on morning TV shows in France (the 2nd channel for example), I'd say it's there so that you won't be late for work (just kidding, I don't know).

It's so that even if you are watching TV (for info about traffic, weather, etc... or maybe your kid really wants to watch anime in the morning), you won't be late to work.
Also, Japan is in one time zone, so regardless of whether you're watching the station from Naha or Saitama or Sendai, the clock would be accurate (unlike in the US, where there are a bunch of different time zones)

As Pauline said above, it`s so you can keep track of time as you munch on your toast and sup your tea before you have to hit the road for work. In Japan, time has an elevated importance perhaps, because being on time for work is taken pretty seriously.

A while back I asked a Japanese friend what he thought the biggest difference between Japanese people and British people was. He answered, "Japanese people have a clock in their head."

If you live in, or visit Japan, you`ll notice that when it comes to work, transport, etc things are very regimented. Japanese society is a big machine that runs like clockwork.

a.

Lot's of stay-at-home-wives like to bake cakes, it is a reminder what time it is so they don't overbake the cake in the oven. Japanese men don't like brack ケーキ

Abbass Wrote:A while back I asked a Japanese friend what he thought the biggest difference between Japanese people and British people was. He answered, "Japanese people have a clock in their head."

If you live in, or visit Japan, you`ll notice that when it comes to work, transport, etc things are very regimented. Japanese society is a big machine that runs like clockwork.

Very true, one of the most annoying things they find is if people are late for whatever. You don't want to be late for either a dinner, appointment, date etc. (let alone an all important interview) with Japanese people.

I was ready for this progression of the topic! What're some thoughts on p-time and m-time in Japan?

http://crab.rutgers.edu/~ckaufman/polyJapanese.html ('Japanese Time Culture' section)

http://joi.ito.com/weblog/2003/08/06/going-ptime.html
http://joi.ito.com/weblog/2005/04/28/jap...unctu.html

Rujiel Wrote:Many of the early-morning shows seem to have this clock. Though, maybe it's just one station.. Why does Japan feel it needs this?

It's to see what time it is.

LOL.

We obviously have too much time on our hands discussing the philosophy of all of this.

Zwarte has explained it perfectly.

Abbass.

ruiner Wrote:I was ready for this progression of the topic! What're some thoughts on p-time and m-time in Japan?

Japanese TV has fewer commercials than in Canada, so I find myself having less p time.

Jarvik7 Wrote:Japanese TV has fewer commercials than in Canada, so I find myself having less p time.

If you ever want to have an abundance of p time have a look at NBC or MTV.