JOCX-DTV (Fuji TV)

Credits

Descriptions by
BaldiBasicsFan, User00664, EvelynFriedrich, DaVinci101, Betty Paltingca & Badjazz98

Editions by
Henrynguye5

Video captures courtesy of
昭和テレビ, 昭和マニア, No.

Background

JOCX-DTV, branded as Fuji TV (フジテレビ, Fuji Terebi) and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the Fuji Television Network, Inc., it is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System. It is also known for its long-time slogan, "If it's not fun, it's not TV!". It was founded on November 18, 1948, but didn't go on-air until March 1, 1959.

1st Logo (March 1, 1959-1969)

Nicknames: "The 8", "The Fuji 8", "1960s Fuji", "Fuji Mountain", "The Combination of Shochiku and RKO", "Monochrome Fuji"

Logo: We fade in to Mount Fuji being covered by a set of clouds. The clouds would move away from the screen as we see the mountain more clearly. Then, the channel name フジテレビ (Fuji Television in English) appears on the center of the screen. After that, the mountain is sending out signals (similar to the 2nd RKO Radio Pictures logo) with channel name zooming to the bottom of the screen. After the final signal, a numeral "8" comes out of the mountain, and text reading "チャンネル 8 (Channel 8 in English)" appears below the "8". The logo stands still for a few seconds the text and the "8" closing out. All that is left is just Mount Fuji as seen on a sky background with a few clouds behind the mountain. After seeing the clear view one more time, the logo fades out.

FX/SFX: Very nice traditional cel animation for the time.

Music/Sounds: A happy sounding majestic fanfare.

Availability: Extinct. It is only seen when the channel signs on and off. Japanese kinescopes are the only way to find this logo.

Editor's Note: A harmless logo and a nice start for the network, though some people might get put off by the rings coming out of the mountain. Nonetheless, the music is very relaxing.

2nd Logo (1969-1976)

Nicknames: "The 8 II", "The Fuji 8 II", "Early 1970s Fuji", "Fuji Headquarters", "Zooming 8", "8 of Doom"

• Opening Variant: "Fuji Mountain II"
• Closing Variant: "8 in Space"

Logo:

• Opening: On a pink background, we see the Fuji mountain from the previous logo, but darkened, with a few clouds behind it. A sun can be be seen rising on the mountain, which makes it brighter. We then fade into the Fuji Television headquarters from the time. The mountain fades out after. The sun continues to rise. When it stops, the eight from the previous logo pops out of the headquarters and zooms to the viewer. As the bottom of the eight goes through the screen, the name of the channel appears at the bottom and turns from the top.
• Closing: (Skip to 1:16) The headquarters from the time (located in Kawadacho, Shinjuku) appears, this time over a black background. The camera rotates around the building and it zooms out. It is revealed that it was zooming out from planet Earth. The eight from the previous logo pops out of planet Earth. When the bottom of the eight goes through the screen, we see the surface of the moon, the name of the channel appears just like in the opening version.

FX/SFX: For the opening variant, the sun rising, the fading, the zooming of the 8 and the turning of the channel name. Mostly 2D animation. For the closing variant, the zooming and the turning of the headquarters, the zoom out of planet earth, the zooming of the 8 and the turning of the channel name. By the way, the headquarters are filmed as live-action models.

Music/Sounds: TBA

Avaiability: Extinct. The closing variant also appeared in a montage that played when Fuji TV was moving from Kawadacho to Odaiba in 1997.

Editor's Note: TBA

3rd Logo (1976-1978)

Logo:

• Opening: We start out in complete darkness. Dark purple hues then begin to appear in the background, and the silhouette of Mount Fuji becomes discernible in the foreground. As dawn progresses, the purple sky begins to become more pink in tone. Soon, the first rays of the sun begin to glow behind the mountain. When the sun itself makes its appearance, its bright light engulfs much of the screen and causes rotating lens flares to appear in front of the mountain. The sun slowly rises out of view, brightening the sky and lighting up Mount Fuji. We cut to a wider shot of the mountain, which has clouds floating by behind it. The "8" and the channel name fade in in front of the footage.
• Closing: TBA

Variants:

• TBA

FX/SFX: TBA

Music/Sounds: TBA

Avaiability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: The music can give out a chilling vide, especially the sign-off, where the logo is darkened.

4th Logo (1978-1984)

Nicknames: "Ai no Message"

Logo:

• Opening (used until 1981): Against a black background, we see a large white numeral "8" superimposed on seven rainbow lines (in order - red, orange, yellow, light green, dark green, blue and pirple-pink.) Beneath is Japanese text.
• Closing: We see images from monuments installed at the Hakone Open-Air Museum at night. The Japanese text "Ai no Message" appears over the glass monument, and the Japanese text "Hakone Choukoku no Mori Bijutsukan" appears over the image of a monument. In the end, the numeral 8 and the Japanese text of the three previous logos zooms into the screen over the image of another glass monument

Variant: The opening plays the short version of the song. To hear the longer version see here.

FX/SFX: The opening variant is known to have a small part of the logo shows 7 rainbow trails beaming to the top while the logo appears. Other than that no other footage of this opening is found. For the closing variant, live-action, expect for the zoom-in of the 1959 print logo, which is scanimated.

Music/Sounds: The station's song "Ai no Message". For the closing variant, its just the instrumental of the song.

Availability: Extinct. A small part of the opening variant appears during Fuji TV's movement to Odaiba, Minato.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (1979-1986)

Nicknames: "Crazy 8s", "Early 1980s Fuji", "The Zooming 8s", "Channel 8, Fuji Better Be", "Scanimated Fuji", "I Ai Eye", "8 of Doom II: Electric Boogaloo"

Logo: TBA

Variant: A shorter version exists where it cuts to the final part of the logo, but there is a difference, a rainbow trail comes out of the text, the trail zooms in until the eight appears. The trail fades out as eight shines.

FX/SFX: A combination of scanimation and traditional cel animation. While the parts with the scanimation are really well done, the parts with traditional cels are really choppy, but this was typical for cel-animated logos at the time.

Music/Sounds: TBA

Availability: Extinct. The longer version is only seen when the channel signs on and off. Meanwhile, the shorter version is used as a station ID.

Editor's Note: The in-your-face effects along with the chorus and the part with the eye can make this logo startling, but it's beautiful thanks to the effort put into it. Additionally, the music is relaxing in the first half and catchy in the second half.

6th Logo (April 1986-April 1987)

Note: A better quality version of the ident can be found on this link: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Zx411J7Lm/?spm_id_from=333.788.recommend_more_video.11 (the video starts at 0:36 mark)

TBA.

7th Logo (April 1987?-2001)

Note: In this video, the Startup and Closedown idents are located respectively at marks 0:40 and 2:13.

TBA

8th Logo (2001-)

Provided ID could not be validated.

Logo: TBA

Variants:

• A short version exists, only used for sign-offs.
• When the logo was introduced for digital broadcastings in 2003, the logo was zoomed to fit the widescreen format and the text "JOCX-DTV" replaces "JOCX-TV" (although this was used for analog broadcastings until 2011). Also, some scenes were cutted off, so the animation reduced its lenght to 60 seconds.

FX/SFX: A combination of CGI animation and live-action.

Music/Sounds: TBA

Avaiability: Currently in use.

Editor's Note: While the animation is a bit dated for today standards, this logo remains a favorite of many, given its usage.