KZOO
Encyclopedia
KZOO is a radio station
catering to the Japanese
community of Honolulu, Hawaii
. The station offers a Japanese Variety and Pop music (aka J-Pop
) format and is under ownership of Polynesian Broadcasting, Inc. KZOO also retransmits on Oceanic Time Warner Cable
digital channel 888 for the entire state of Hawaii.
KZOO has been broadcasting continuously in Japanese since the station signed on October 18, 1963. It was not the first Japanese-language station in Honolulu (competitor KOHO-AM 1170 signed on in 1959), but it is the only one still on the air today (KOHO went off the air in 1990).
show on Sundays, who joined the station in early 1964; Maki Norris, one of the hosts of a popular daily talk show called "Moshi-Moshi Time," who has worked at KZOO since 1976; and Harumi "Danny" Oshita.
KZOO has a history of sponsoring Japanese speech (Nihongo Hanashikata Taikai, started by announcer Keiko Ura in 1965) and nodojiman and karaoke
song contests in Honolulu, with winners going on to represent Hawaii at contests in Japan. The station's broadcast day also includes simulcasts of programs from Japan as well as local talk and advice shows on a variety of topics, from health to the law.
, the station's assistant general manager, Kaoru Ekimoto, contacted English-language adult contemporary music station KSSK, who put her on the air with disaster relief information in Japanese; the station also set up a hotline to answer listener questions. The station has since added a backup power source for its transmitter.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
catering to the Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
community of Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
. The station offers a Japanese Variety and Pop music (aka J-Pop
J-pop
, an abbreviation for Japanese pop, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s music, such as The Beatles, and replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene...
) format and is under ownership of Polynesian Broadcasting, Inc. KZOO also retransmits on Oceanic Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
digital channel 888 for the entire state of Hawaii.
KZOO has been broadcasting continuously in Japanese since the station signed on October 18, 1963. It was not the first Japanese-language station in Honolulu (competitor KOHO-AM 1170 signed on in 1959), but it is the only one still on the air today (KOHO went off the air in 1990).
History
The station has been owned by Polynesian Broadcasting since its beginning and managed by the Furuya family since 1967, when businessman Noboru Furuya took over KZOO's operations. Furuya's son David and his wife Robyn took over management of the station in the mid-1990s when Furuya's health began to decline. Noboru Furuya died in 2002 at the age of 82; David and Robyn Furuya (now the president and vice-president, respectively, of Polynesian Broadcasting) continue to run KZOO today.Programming
Many of KZOO's current on-air staff have been with the station for decades, including Keiko Ura, host of an Okinawan languageOkinawan language
Central Okinawan, or simply Okinawan , is a Northern Ryukyuan language spoken primarily in the southern half of the island of Okinawa, as well as in the surrounding islands of Kerama, Kumejima, Tonaki, Aguni, and a number of smaller peripheral islands...
show on Sundays, who joined the station in early 1964; Maki Norris, one of the hosts of a popular daily talk show called "Moshi-Moshi Time," who has worked at KZOO since 1976; and Harumi "Danny" Oshita.
KZOO has a history of sponsoring Japanese speech (Nihongo Hanashikata Taikai, started by announcer Keiko Ura in 1965) and nodojiman and karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
song contests in Honolulu, with winners going on to represent Hawaii at contests in Japan. The station's broadcast day also includes simulcasts of programs from Japan as well as local talk and advice shows on a variety of topics, from health to the law.
Disaster relief
When KZOO was knocked off the air by the 2006 Hawaii earthquake2006 Hawaii earthquake
The 2006 Hawaii earthquake was an offshore earthquake occurring southwest from Puakō and north of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, just offshore of the Kona Airport, on Sunday October 15, 2006 at 7:07:49 AM local time . It measured 6.7 on the moment magnitude scale, and was located at , at a depth of...
, the station's assistant general manager, Kaoru Ekimoto, contacted English-language adult contemporary music station KSSK, who put her on the air with disaster relief information in Japanese; the station also set up a hotline to answer listener questions. The station has since added a backup power source for its transmitter.
External links
- KZOO celebrates 45 years of serving Hawaii community - from the Honolulu Star-BulletinHonolulu Star-BulletinThe Honolulu Star-Bulletin was a daily newspaper based in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the second largest daily newspaper in the state of Hawaii...