JOTX-DTV (TV Tokyo)

Background

JOTX-DTV is the main callsign of television station TV Tokyo, serving as the Kanto region flagship of the TX Network, which TV Tokyo also controls. TV Tokyo is one of the main stations in Japan, mostly due to specializing in anime shows (with the most popular shows being aired on the network). JOTX-TV existed since 1951, the TV Tokyo Corporation then started to emerge 17 years later. Its early years were mostly for general-purpose programming but now mostly airs programs for various demographics.

JOTX-TV (Tokyo Channel 12)

1st ID (July 1, 1968-September 30, 1973)

Visuals: There is a camera panning around a cube. It eventually pans on the top side that displays the number "12". Then, the "12" zooms out, and "東京" (Tokyo) and "チャンネル" (channel) appear between the numbers. It then cuts into the TV station's info (including frequency and power) on a sign of arrows, similar to the one used by Nippon Television. Later, 4 circles at the center rotate to form two intersecting ellipses. The "12" logo then zooms inside the rotating circles. Finally, the radio waves zoom out, and "Tokyo 12 Channel" is shown.

Technique: A mix of live-action and cel animation.

Audio: Unknown.

Availability: As of now, this ID is completely lost media with no footage existing online. It could be in the hands of TV Tokyo themselves.

2nd ID (October 1, 1973-March 31, 1979)

Visuals: There is no video footage of this ident, but it contains three still images: the channel's logo, a slide containing the following station information "東京12チャンネル　JOTX-TV 映像周波数　217.25メガヘルツ音声周波数　221.75メガヘルツ映像出力　50キロワット音声出力　12.5キロワット". (Tokyo 12 Channel JOTX-TV Video frequency 217.25 MHz Audio frequency 221.75 MHz Video output 50 kilowatts Audio output 12.5 kilowatts). It later cuts into a list of its relay stations.

Technique: 3 still images.

Audio: In the opening, the announcer says "JOTX-TV. JOTX-TV. おはようございます、こちらは東京12チャンネルです。映像周波数217.25メガヘルツ、音声周波数221.75 メガヘルツ、映像出力 50キロワット、音声出力12.5キロワットでお送りします。今日も東京12チャンネルの番組をお楽しみください".

Availability: As of now, only the audio of the opening exists online, but it should be preserved on home recordings from 1975-1979.

3rd ID (April 1, 1979-September 30, 1981)

Visuals: There are 12 boxes on the screen containing the logo. One of the boxes disappeared, showing a person with a costume. The other boxes randomly keep appearing/disappearing, also showing a person with a costume. This continued for a few seconds until the boxes began making patterns synced with the music. After a few seconds, red boxes appeared in the middle row with their slogan at that time, "楽しち12ガ月" (12 months of fun). The red boxes later disappeared one by one, showing all the people with costumes. They greet the viewer, then it cuts to the logo in the white background with "JOTX-TV" on the top, the channel 12 logo in the middle, and the phrase "東京12チャンネル" (Tokyo Channel 12 or Tokyo 12 Network).

Technique: Live-action and simple computer effects.

Audio: A ticking (almost similar to a ticking clock) sound plays every time the boxes appear/disappear, which later accompanies a short jingle played in a flute.

JOTX-TV/DTV (TV Tokyo)

1st ID (October 1, 1981-September 30, 1998)

Visuals: On a white background, the station logo is seen in the middle of the screen, consisting of a 2-striped green "12" with "テレビ東京" below, in a very angular font. Above it is a message in Japanese, which is also green. The logo then becomes black as bars appear one by one in various shades of green, which turns the logo white as well. The logo moves to the left as multiple copies of the callsign "JOTX-TV" slide in a diagonal pattern, with the camera stopping on a larger copy in the middle of the screen. The callsigns then disappear and the background shrinks to a cube shape, which turns to an angle. Multiple copies then appear and panels start flipping onto them, changing through many different colors before cutting to a pattern of diamonds that flap and change into birds. The rest of the logo then shifts through many different color combinations and patterns of shapes and animals. The final pattern than turns yellow and converts back into the cubes at the beginning. It continues like in the beginning, but every cube except for the middle one fades out when it finishes. The cube then rotates to the screen and zooms in, revealing the same call signs as before, all before cutting to the same logo zooming out save for a different message on top.

Later Variant: Starting in December 12, 1985, the station's logo was replaced with a shot of the station's then-current headquarters with the name of the callsign being shown on the bottom. After the logo begins to end the same shot appears with the company's slogan shown in the center. At the patterns slide there is information about the company, it's callsigns and it's hertz.

Technique: Cel animation, and the later variant used Scanimation for the transitions.

Audio: A repetitive synth score. An announcer is heard starting in 1985.

2nd ID (October 1, 1998-November 30, 2003)

Visuals: On a brown background, 3 bubbles zoom out on a rippling surface. Each pop 1 by 1 and send a ripple throughout the background, before blooming into flowers. The background then turns green, then black, as more flowers bloom and, as the background turns black, fireworks start going off. Several of them go on as the callsign and voltage start zooming up and the background becomes blue and filled with bubbles. These bubbles may have pictures of children on them. The background then fades to black again as one of the bubbles becomes Earth, complete with the Moon, swirling around. When the last piece of station information disappears, several words appear and scroll in the background as the Earth becomes a blue sphere with 2 lines, 1 red and the other blue, revolving around as it zooms out. The sphere then shrinks to reveal the 1998 TV Tokyo logo, which is "TVTOKYO" in both red and blue and having 2 arcs over the middle of the wordmark. The logo then flashes and stops in the middle of the screen, glowing white with a white afterimage in the middle, as the text stops moving.

Technique: CGI using Softimage 3D Extreme.

Audio: A calming tune, made with strings, keyboards, and a woodwind. An announcer can be heard near the end as the theme goes into a final flourish. Several sounds can also be heard throughout, such as the sounds of children.

3rd ID (December 1, 2003-November 12, 2023)

Visuals: In a strange room, the screen zooms up to a floating white sphere that opens up and starts shooting out projections through spotlights. These then erratically move about, revealing the landscape of a flower garden. The camera then rotates around the newly made flowers and flies off, all before fading to a fly-over shot of a forest, with mountains in the back and birds flying about. The sphere then flies back into the shot and shoots out more spotlights, transforming the shot into a desert landscape. The sphere flies up into the sky as the background fades to white, then to an overhead shot of an ocean. Dolphins can be seen leaping out of the water as the sphere returns to the screen and heads towards the clouds, fading back to white. It then fades into a shot of space, with the Earth and Moon in frame and "JOTX-TV" (on analog) or "JOTX-DTV" (on digital) zooming in slowly, before giving a pulse and shining away, as the sphere floats silently about. The sphere then closes up as 2 streaks, 1 red and 1 blue, orbit around the sphere as the background fades out. The sphere and streaks then zoom out and disappear, with the TV Tokyo logo fading into place, as well as a thick white outline.

Technique: CGI using Alias Maya.

Audio: Several clicks can be heard at the beginning, with a shifting synth tune playing in place. It then leads to a music box-like tune with woodwind intervals. Then, a calm piano tune plays twice, with the same interval in the middle. The piano tune becomes much more dramatic as it reaches space. A drumroll finishes it off, before ending with a different music box tune.

Availability: This was used for almost 20 years, so it should be easy to find on Japanese home recordings. It was also used on analog broadcasting until all analog signals were shuttered in the Kanto region on July 24, 2011.

4th ID (November 13, 2023-)

Visuals: The first clip of the video is a skyline footage of Tokyo during sunrise, which then switches to a closer view of multiple buildings. It then switches to a park with a chalkboard, where three people walk to it. The next clip shows one of the person picking up a chalk. The three people then draws across the entire chalkboard, with the footage being a time-lapse. After a while, the three walks away, showing a drawing of six kids on a grassfields surrounded by bubbles pointing to the sky. After a closer look at the drawing, the three return to draw, where a person with a white dress and a white umbrella obstructs the middle, looking at the three drawing. After the three finsih drawing and walk away, the person in the white dress also walks away, revealing the TV Tokyo logo in futuristic-style script and the text "JOTX-DTV" below it on the chalkboard. The camera zooms in on the logo, after which the text "JOTX-DTV" then gets applied with a chalkboard effect, and an image of the TV Tokyo logo is put on top of the TV Tokyo logo on the chalkboard.

Technique: Mostly live-action footage, with some 2D effects.

Audio: A relaxing piano music.