KeyHoleTV: Watch Live Japanese TV Online!

Have you ever wanted to know how to watch real-time, live Japanese TV for free? Maybe you’re trying to learn Japanese, but want to hear real Japanese, and not the type you just hear in Anime. Well there is a free program called KeyHoleTV (キーホールテレビ) that will let you do just that. KeyHoleTV is part of a project by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs testing out P2P (peer to peer) technology. You can also stream your own live video using the same technology with a program called KeyHoleVideo. While the audio and video isn’t the highest quality, it is definitely watchable. KeyholeTV has a decent, but limited selection of channels. The bigger channels are TBS, TV Tokyo, TV Asahi, and Fuji TV. There area also a few smaller channels and user broadcasts that change randomly. If you’re interested in downloading it, here’s a step by step guide.





Side Note: The added a few new features with KeyholeTV version 3.04+. First if you double click the video window, it will open up another window so you can just have the video playing without the rest of the buttons. Also, if you click the button “TOP MOST ON” it will make it so the window stays on top of whatever you are doing!

DISCLAIMER: I, Megat @ MeGaMRedZ have already tested this program; KeyHoleTV that it is 100% fully functional software and 100% safe. Please read this introduction manual/instructions completely. Some of the texts are edited and it's originally taken from:http://xorsyst.com/japan/watch-japanese-tv-online/ .

1. Download KeyHoleTV
Head over to http://www.v2p.jp/video/Viewer/ and download the file labeled “SetupKHTV3.09.exe” or you can just click here: Download KeyHoleTV.

UPDATED JAN 27th '09: SECONDARY DOWNLOAD's LINKS/ MIRRORS
Click the link below to download if you unable to access the above link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?ymzzmztwotm
File's name/size: SetupKHTV3.12.exe/ 723.03 KB (RECOMMENDED - NEW VERSION)

http://www.mediafire.com/?1mzzgyumeyx
File's name/size: SetupKHTV3.09.exe/ 721.94 KB (OLD VERSION)

NEWS ON KEYHOLE TV

++ KEYHOLE TV'S BACK ONLINE (JAN 27th '09) ++

Head over and download the newest version/update on the KeyHole TV tohttp://www.v2p.jp/video/Viewer/ and download the file labeled “SetupKHTV3.12.exe” or you can just click here: Download KeyHoleTV.

++ KEYHOLE TV'S MIGRATION (JAN 24th '09) ++

Quote taken from jdictionary:

Hello,

A lot of people are commenting lately about the Keyhole servers and web site being down. I wouldn’t worry too much about it people. They announced very early on that they were moving their office on the 22nd and that this would impact the web site and the service. Obviously moving your office from one place to another is not a trivial thing. Unexpected events are likely to occur that must be dealt with (in particular, I would guess that changing ISPs or migrating settings from one place to another with an existing ISP would be very tricky to time and coordinate). Please don’t give up on Keyhole TV just yet! Up until the move, the service was very stable. I’m sure it is just a matter of time before they are back online and stable once again. Incidentally, I woke up this morning at 4:00 AM USA eastern time (Friday, Jan 23rd) and noticed that all stations were online - Asahi, TBS, TV Japan, Fuji, etc. About 12 hours prior to that, a smaller selection of channels was online as was the web site. So it looks like they are making some kind of progress. Keep in mind too that it is the weekend now in Japan so it is possible they will have to wait until Monday to make further progress if they are dependent on service providers that are closed over the weekend.

Note that this is all speculation on my part. I am not associated with Keyhole TV in any way. I am in the IT industry however and have been involved with server migrations and something unexpected always seems to come up! I’m sure it is not any different for the team at Keyhole.

Download KeyholeTV



2. Install KeyHoleTV
Select English, or which ever language you are most comfortable reading, and install the program.

NOTE: DON'T FORGET TO SCAN THE DOWNLOADED INSTALLER FIRST WITH YOUR ANTIVIRUS/SPYWARE/ADWARE SOFTWARES@PROGRAMS FOR YOUR SAFETY.

3. Run KeyHoleTV
After the install, run the program and then you are going to be presented with the following screen:

KeyholeTV: Starting Screen



In this screen, you will see various buttons, and the main channel guide. Below I will include a guide to the channels so you know what you’re looking at. A brief explanation of the buttons:


* KeyholeTV Online Button

Logs you on and off of the server. Sometimes you will see errors saying that you are not connected to the server. Just click the button Off, and then back On to log back in.

NOTE: If a windows notification appear on the firewall settings, asking you which options that you want to choose. Please select "UNBLOCK" to enable the KeyHoleTV streaming to your PC. Click the button Off, and then click ON to log back in.


* KeyholeTV Mute Button

Allows you to mute the sound. Trigger On and Off.


* KeyholeTV Stop Button

Allows you to stop and start the video.


* KeyholeTV Update Channel Listings

The channel listings refreshes every now-and-then. Use this button to manually update the channel listings for KeyHoleTV.


* KeyholeTV Watch Channel Button

After you have selected a channel in the channel listings window, click the Watch button to view the channel.


* KeyholeTV Search Channel Listings

Right now, you don’t have to worry about this button as there are not many channels available on KeyHoleTV. However in the future, this button is going to be a must have.


* KeyholeTV Chat with the Broadcaster

I haven’t seen any broadcasters chatting, but I assume that KeyHoleTV has the option of allowing the viewers to chat with the broadcasters. There is a popular channel that features actress Risa Ishimoto, not sure if you can chat with her or not.


* KeyholeTV Video Tab

This tab allows you to view the video window.


* KeyHoleTV Program Tab

This tab allows you to view the channel listings.

4. Channel listings



KeyholeTV Channel WindowThis is the channel listings for KeyHoleTV. On this screen you will see the channel name, a preview picture of whats currently playing, and the amount of viewers watching that specific channel. When you see a high number of people watching, it usually means something good is on. Remember that here some of us may not live in Japan and we are about hours behind/fast JST (Japan Standard Time). So a lot of the popular shows and Anime will come on at odd times for us. To make you easier, go here: http://www.worldtimezone.com/. Here is a listing of the current channels as of today. The channels are always changing. Match the beginning of the channel name with the English in red:

KeyholeTV Channel Listings in English



So there you go. If you are using this to help you with learning Japanese, I hope you get a lot out of KeyHoleTV. I will be updating this page when I see new channels, so bookmark the page or subscribe to my RSS Feed so you don’t miss anything. Below are a few TV Guide Japan type websites so if you know Japanese, or can figure out what the kanji means, you can have a better idea of what’s playing.

* TV Guide Japan
* ONTV Japan
* Japan TV at Yahoo!

Please use Google Translate to translate all the Kanji to English. Input the site's link to Translate a Web Page, choose Japanese >> English, and then click the Translate button.

For more Q&A; read on the comments below.
Please read ALL of it, if the Q&A below didn't solved/answered your question(s) then feel free to post your question(s).
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