In a bow to globalization, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is making at least one exception to his "small government" crusade: He is considering an expansion of the foreign-language programming offered by NHK, Japan's public TV and radio broadcaster.
NHK has come under the scrutiny of Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Heizo Takenaka, who has called for restructuring the broadcast giant, hit by various scandals and a subscriber plunge, as a showcase of his efforts to scale back state-linked organizations.
But Koizumi, who held a meeting with prominent foreign residents of Japan at the prime minister's office Thursday to discuss ways to attract foreign tourists, ordered Takenaka to look at increasing NHK's English and other foreign language programming in order to boost Japan's outreach to non-Japanese, both here and abroad.