FM broadcasting in Japan

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The frequency modulation radio broadcast band in Japan is 76-95 MHz.^[1] The 90-108 MHz section was used for television for VHF channels 1, 2 and 3 until the analog shutdown occurred on July 24, 2011. The narrowness of the Japanese band (19 MHz compared to slightly more than 20 MHz for the CCIR band; until the mid-2010s, it was a 14 MHz band) limits the number of FM stations that can be accommodated on the dial.

In late 2013, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications published a report proposing the expansion of the FM band to 95 MHz; at the time, the Japanese FM band was from 76-90 MHz. Many stations that had been previously only available on the AM band were issued preliminary licenses to broadcast from 90-95 MHz. The first station to go on air in the expanded band was Nankai Broadcasting, which began test broadcasts on 91.7 FM on November 3, 2014.