NHK April 1 kicks off a digital international television broadcasting service for the Asia-Pacific region.

NHK World TV is a nonscrambled service carrying NHK's news and information programs 18 hours a day via telecommunications satellites. More than 30 percent of the programs can be heard in English, NHK said. Viewers can watch the channel through local cable/satellite stations or by installing a satellite dish and tuner in their home.

"Japan This Week," a 30-minute roundup of weekly news in Japan and other Asian countries, will be produced exclusively for the international service. The English-language program will be aired on NHK World TV on Saturdays at 11 p.m. Japan time and later rerun domestically on NHK's BS-1 satellite channel. "Besides regular straight news, we are keen to work on feature stories to introduce Japan's political and social systems as well as trends to the world," said Junichi Takeda, chief producer of the program. "We'll also have in-depth reports from Asia by closely communicating with NHK's 19 overseas bureaus from Jerusalem eastward."

The digital-format service will be extended to North and South America, Europe and other parts of the world on Oct. 1, eventually covering 175 countries and regions, according to NHK.