JOFX-DTV (Tokai Television Broadcasting)

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum



Background

Tōkai Television Broadcasting Co., Ltd. (THK, callsign JOFX-DTV) is a Japanese television station serving as the Chubu region affiliate for the Fuji TV-run Fuji News Network and Fuji Network System, headquartered in Nagoya. It is one of the primary television stations serving the Tōkai subregion. It was founded on February 1, 1958, commencing its broadcasts on December 25, 1958, as Japan's 17th commercial television station.



1st ID (Startup, December 25, 1958-1965?)

Visuals: On a white background, there is a map of Japan that zooms into the Tōkai region. Just before it finishes zooming in, a circle with a white outline appears. Then, the number "1" appears, getting bigger as a white circle fills in the outlined circle. After the white circle finishes filling in the outlined circle, the text "Channel" appears and a bigger outlined white circle appears. A translucent white circle fills in part of the area of the outlined circle and after that, "1" and "Channel" appear again. Another translucent circle fills in the remainder of the area. After that, the text "JOFX-TV" in a geometric font appears and zooms in, while the circles disappear. Finally, the JOFX-TV text is replaced by "東海テレビ".

Technique: A mix of model work and traditional cel animation.

Audio: A patriotic march, which is "News Reel", composed by Len Stevens accompanied with an announcer saying "JOFX-TV 第1チャンネル 東海テレビ放送です" at the end.

2nd ID (Closedown, 1974?-February 29, 1980)

Visuals: There is a shot of the city of Nagoya during nighttime while the relay information is shown and after that, the 1965 THK symbol in white alongside the words "JOFX-TV" at the bottom as the camera zooms into THK's building with the symbol being colored (consisting of a red and green roof with a circle with the number "1" in the middle, with the circle being colored in blue used since 1968, due to the rise of color television in Japan at that time), before fading out into some fountains surrounding the THK building before fading to a blue background with some starts. After that, the words "JOFX-TV" appear in white at the bottom before fading to black.

Technique: A mix of live-action footage with traditional cel animation.

Audio: A nightly and gentle harp tune.

3rd ID (Startup, March 1, 1980-December 31, 1986)


Visuals: The ident starts with the skyline of Nagoya zooming into a transmission tower, later cutting into the ocean, some mountains, a temple, and finally another skyline that moves to a building (THK's headquarters at that time) with a transmission tower. The channel's name or logo dosen't appear.

Technique: Live-action footage.

Audio: An ethereal and dreamy violin fanfare.

4th ID (Closedown, March 1, 1980-1984)


Visuals: There is a shot of a beach in Nagoya during sunset with some waves before later fading to another shot of the waves before fading to reveal a shot of some boats before fading into a shot of a boy riding on a boat as he looks at the boats. The camera later fades to a shot of the boy as he walks through a beach before fading to again to the shot of the boats with him riding on the boat from earlier. After that, the credits for the closedown short start to play before fading to the station infomration.

Technique: Live-action footage.

Audio: "La chuche d'étain" performed by Claude Ciari.

5th ID (Closedown, 1984-December 31, 1986)

Visuals: There is a shot of a flower before fading into other shots of some flowers before zooming out to reveal a garden full of flowers. Then, the camera later fades to a shot of a baby looking at a beach before fading into some waves while the short's credits appear before the camera fades into a shot of the beach, surrounded by a building followed by a shot of some flowers and later into a man as he picks the flowers one-by-one. After that, it fades into a shot of a house as it zooms in to later fade to reveal a family enjoying in their table. The camera fades into some shots of the family members before fading into a shot of a baby. After that, the camera fades into a shot of a child sleeping before fading to the station information.

Technique: Live-action footage.

Audio: "La chuche d'étain" from the 4th ident, performed by Claude Ciari.

6th ID (Analog, January 1, 1987-July 24, 2011)

Visuals: On a white background, there are some red, blue and green sparks that flash one by one before forming the 1968 THK logo. After that the logo turns into waves and bubbles before moving to the left to reveal a house, some buildings, flowers, a child playing on a swing, some hills, a wave before it splashes to reveal some bubbles before transitioning into two people running and a person biking before the lines later a tree, followed by a rocket. After that, the lines form some shapes before turning into a heart. The lines later form the 1968 THK logo with the words "JOFX-TV" in black and the THK wordmark, consisting of the text "東海テレビ" in a futuristic-type font at the bottom.

Variant: During the closedown ident, the animation is shown in black with the THK wordmark and its callsign being in white, the animation is also shorter.

Technique: Traditional cel animation by Tadahiko Horiguchi.

Audio: An upbeat pop jingle composed by Hattori Kiyoshi.

Audio Variant: The closedown variant has a slow and gentle rendition of the startup jingle.

7th ID (Digital, December 1, 2003-January 1, 2018)


Visuals:

  • Startup: There is a shot of the area surrounding Nagoya Port while the words "Good Morning" in white appear at the bottom, followed by the Seto Digital Tower as it traverses around the tower in full 360-degree motion followed by a shot of their headquarters. After traversing through the outside of the building the camera later zooms out as the words "JOFX-DTV", "デジタルテレビジョン" appear with the 1965 THK wordmark at the bottom.
  • Closedown: There is a shot of Nagoya Port as it zooms in to reveal a shot of the city of Nagoya from above before the camera later fades to some shots of the city as it flies by. After that, it zooms to THK's headquarters as the camera flies by the building. After that, the words "JOFX-DTV", "デジタルテレビジョン" with the 1965 THK wordmark at the bottom.

Variant: Around 2017, the footage was reshot.

Technique: Live-action footage

Audio: A piano sounding theme, which is a classical arrangement of "Across the Universe".

Audio Variant: Around 2017, the theme was changed to the interlude to "Cavalleria rusticana".

8th ID (Startup, January 2, 2018-December 31, 2019)


Visuals: There is Itchi's treehouse as the sun rises during the morning before transitioning to him sleeping in his bed. Itchy later gets up to start the day before fading into multiple shots of him doing activities such as swimming, watching fireworks, reading and walking. After that, the camera fades to a shot of Nagoya as his animal friends walk with him. The rest of his pals then come together as Itchi jumps up to strike a pose before panning up to reveal the words "JOFX-DTV", "デジタルテレビジョン", and the 1956 THK wordmark surrounded by balloons, a helicopter and a bird.

Technique: A mix of CGI and digital traditional animation.

Audio: A happy piano-sounding theme.

9th ID (January 1, 2020-)


Visuals: On a white background with some watercolored paintings of fireworks, there is a book with Itchi on the cover which later opens to reveal him doing various activities as the camera pans up and down to reveal illustrations of him in various seasons. After that, Itchi closes the books revealing the back cover which has the words "JOFX-DTV" and "デジタルテレビジョン" in blue with the 1965 THK wordmark at the bottom with Itchi on the left instead of the symbol.

Technique: A mix of CGI and digital traditional animation.

Audio: A happy xylophone-sounding jingle.