Paper short abstract:

This presentation deals with NHK's series format of asadora and its role as a national institution in Japan. The asadora is interpreted as a "media ritual" phenomenon, which experiences profound transformations in recent years through a changing broadcasting landscape.

Paper long abstract:

The series format of renzoku terebi shôsetsu ("serial TV novel"), short asadora, is regarded as a national institution in Japan: For generations, people have been turning in the state broadcaster NHK in the morning to follow the plot, which extends over half a year. Watching this series is thus more than just pure entertainment; it has become a ritual that contributes to the structuring of everyday life. The content of asadora is often characterized by traditional values, provides an ideal image of Japanese family life and creates normative concepts of femininity and masculinity. Due to its great social (and also economic) importance, Hiyama Tamami refers to the asadora as the single kokumin-teki dorama ("national drama") on Japanese television (Hiyama on Toyo Keizai Online, 2015: 2). In asadora, Japanese identity is often constructed by picking up great national narratives as the 2nd World War or the reconstruction after defeat. This view of national history from the perspective of women is an important part of the Japanese culture of remembrance. Equally important for identity construction in asadora, though, is the strong emphasis on the regional, which is used pars pro toto to negotiate national values.

This strong media format has met several challenges in recent years: Due to digitalization, advanced recording technology and a diversified range of programs, it has become more difficult for TV stations to attract a large audience; on the other hand, popular TV formats like asadora are widely discussed on social media, and the audience is actively participating in expanding the narrative world of TV series.

In my presentation, I discuss asadora as a "media ritual" phenomenon, which reinforces "the media's authority as a social 'centre'" (Couldry in "Media Rituals", 2003: 30), as becomes apparent through expressions like kokumin-teki dorama and its strong focus on the 'national'. Since over the last 10 years the concept of TV as a medium has profoundly changed, I am also dealing with the transformation of the asadora format and its implications for the media ritual.