Posted by Dave Bull at 8:48 AM, April 3, 2011 [Permalink]

I said in yesterday's post that Saturday would be a 'rest' day for the project, because of the appointment with Tetsui-san. That was the plan, and that was what happened.

But the 'rest' day has been extended - I won't be able to get back to the workbench on Sunday as scheduled. Friday afternoon I got an email from the producer at NHK who had been responsible for the 30-minute 'Japanophiles' program on my work last autumn (viewable here, for those of you who missed it).

Turns out they are trying to get back to 'normal' schedules as the news cycle calms down after the disaster, but haven't got regular programming back in sync yet. He let me know that they had decided to re-broadcast my program as a kind of 'filler', running it six times on Saturday, in between the news bulletins.

That seemed like good news, so I wrote back a quick thank you note, then got on with my work. Come Saturday morning, as Tetsui-san and I were just settling in for the sizing practice (pics here), my computer gave out the special little 'fanfare' sound indicating that an order had come in. And then a few minutes later, again ... and then again ... The first of the six re-broadcasts had finished a few minutes before, and people had begun to make their way to the website ...

It is now Sunday morning, all six showings have run their course, and the subscriber base is now increased by 14. [Welcome to the new members!]

So there won't be any time for printing today; I'm going to be kind of tied up ... tying up packages!

Thank you ... yet again! ... NHK!

Following comment posted by: Marc Kahn on April 3, 2011 10:26 AM

Wow! How cool is that?

Following comment posted by: Lana on April 3, 2011 11:46 PM

Congratulations, Dave! That's the best problem a printer can have!

Following comment posted by: Annie B on April 4, 2011 2:03 AM

Fantastic! Congratulations.

Following comment posted by: Margaret on April 4, 2011 9:38 AM

Hooray for new subscribers!

Following comment posted by: James P. on April 4, 2011 11:41 PM

Great! Nothing like free TV advertising. Did you get such a batch of new subscribers with the original broadcast? Could the post-tsunami austerity we hear about have something to do with it?

Following comment posted by: Dave on April 5, 2011 12:05 AM

original broadcast ...

Yes, this same thing happened, although it was a few less - about a dozen I think (some dribbled in a bit later). I don't have any sense that the natural disaster had anything to do with this at all; at least people haven't mentioned that as being a factor.

As I wrote last fall after the initial broadcast of the program, the main reason that it is so effective is that the viewers are already pre-selected to be interested in Japanese culture, unlike people who watch some random program. Add that to the fact that the producers included a segment that is basically a 'commercial' for the Mystique series (Peter and I have the box on the table between us, and I explain to him how it works), and this isn't such a surprise ...