in Featured, Japan

KeyHoleTV: Watch Live Japanese TV Online!

4.2k Views 639 Comments

March 2020 update: I have found a better way to watch Japanese TV Online, check out AQ Stream!!!

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 hear in Anime. Well, there is a free program called KeyHoleTV 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 live video using the same technique with a program called KeyHoleVideo. While the audio and video isn’t the highest quality, it is watchable. KeyholeTV has a decent, but limited selection of channels. The more prominent channels are TBS, TV Tokyo, TV Asahi, and Fuji TV. There are 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.

1. Download KeyHoleTV

Head over to http://www.oiseyer.com/index3-win10-e.php and download the file labeled “SetupKHTV4.26.exe ” or you can click here: Download KeyHoleTV.

2. Install KeyHoleTV

3. Run KeyHoleTV

When you run KeyHoleTV for the first time, you will see a window like the one below. Just type in a username and password and click “Start Registration” to sign up. You will need this username and password each time you start the application, so don’t lose it!

4. Channel listings

KeyholeTV Starting screen

After successful registration, you will see the channel listings for KeyHoleTV. On this screen, you will see the channel name, a preview picture of what’s currently playing, and the number 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 in the United States, we are about 14 hours behind JST (Japan Standard Time).

So a lot of the popular shows and Anime will come on at odd times for us. 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

Once you have started watching a channel, you must click the blue stop button to select another channel to watch.

5. Premium Module

New with this version is a Premium module key. By purchasing this key, you will get a faster bitrate. You are probably wondering how much faster it is, so I decided to buy a premium account to test it out. Is it faster? Yes, but not by much. I do not notice any skipping what so ever where I did see very choppy sound sometimes on a standard account. If you are serious about watching Japanese TV Online, it may be worth the purchase.

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.

(OUTDATED) 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.
  • KeyholeTV Mute Button Allows you to mute the sound. Trigger On and Off.
  • KeyholeTV Video Button Allows you to stop and start the video.
  • KeyholeTV Update Channel Listings The channel listings refresh 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 presenters. 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.

KeyHoleTV, what will you use it for?

Vote Results
Loading ... Loading ...

Japanese TVjapanese tv onlinejapanese tv shows onlinekeyhole tvkeyholetvwatch japanese tvwatch japanese tv online

What do you think?

0 Points
Upvote Downvote

Written by xorsyst

Comments are closed.

639 Comments

  2. I have download it, and it work properly, but unfortunately the tv name/show name (in japanese) could not come out, its in boxes word which l can’t read.. l can read japanese a bit, so would you help me…
    anyway thank you so much for sharing… ^o^

    0

  3. I has been downloaded it for mac..
    but I can’t use it. It can’t work. Its written “login timed out. check your network”.
    what I have to do now??
    please help me..

    0

  6. I have downloaded keyholetv but it says logging timeout! I have tried several times, but cant see the tv yet! please help me out , how can i see the keyholetv!

    0

  7. It has been mentioned on all of the Japanese networks that there is going to be a switch from analog to digital starting July 26, 2011. How will this affect KeyholeTV? On the top right hand corner it says “アナログ”, which means analog, so will the site be shut down after that or will make the transition t digital?

    0

  10. Hi! I downloaded the windows version of keyholeTv but it says that it can’t be installed because it miss some dll file…I have a windows XP installed on my pc…what do i have to download?

    0

  12. poooooooooooooooor fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin

    0

  15. I don’t know if anybody else noticed it already, but NHK is password protected, the password is, somewhat surprisingly, “NHK”. It appears in the channel list as 総合テレビ

    0

  16. NHK is password protected, the password is, , “NHK”. It appears in the channel list as 総合テレビ.If anybody knows any other passwords, please publish

    0

  19. I’m having problems using Keyhole TV,
    there’s no sound coming from it,
    even if I max the volume,
    and I already check if the “Mute” button is activated,
    but it’s not in “mute” ,
    mind helping me? thanks

    0

  22. Hi i can’t login to keyhole TV. i have ensured that i have internet connection. but it always states that login has timed out. how do i fix this problem? i tried uninstalling and reinstalling again but to no avail. please help! thanks !

    0

  24. Hi i can’t login to keyhole TV. i have ensured that i have internet connection. but it always states that login has timed out. how do i fix this problem? please help! thanks !

    0

  27. hi! i’m a huge fan of detective conan and from the bit of knowledge i have in reading jap characters, i read that it runs in tokyo mx during saturdays at 5:30pm. i was looking for tokyo mx on my keyhole but i can’t seem to find it. can anyone help me please? thanks! :)

    0

  40. whats the NHK password????

    is the server still down??

    LOGIN TIMED OUT. CHECK YOUR NETWORK..

    meaning??? i got this twice already.. now and last wednesday.. so wanna watch a show now on NTV.. wah!!!

    0

  42. I don’t seen NHK in list, I don’t know why O_o How do you can see this?
    And pity but quality of video very low, does anybody looking channels in hight quality?
    and also I have problems with access to server T_T

    0

  43. I guess there are still some problems: not only NHK disappeared but also Fuji TV, let alone that some channels don’t work yet.
    Video and audio quality is low with KeyHole TV, but the program is usually less problematic than others (like TvAnts)… well, not right now, of course.

    0

  44. yahoo!, now it’s work! =^_^=

    yes, sometimes some channels are disappear… but I hope not for long ^_^
    But I like this program too, because for linux it’s only one I find with Japanese tv on-line and real-time =_=

    0

Load more comments

Dragon Ball Super – Broly Movie

Kirby Cafe – Delicious Kirby inspired food