xorsyst
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
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:
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:
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.
Allows you to mute the sound. Trigger On and Off.
Allows you to stop and start the video.
The channel listings refresh every now-and-then. Use this button to manually update the channel listings for KeyHoleTV.
After you have selected a channel in the channel listings window, click the Watch button to view the channel.
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.
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.
This tab allows you to view the video window.
This tab allows you to view the channel listings.
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Thank you for the clear instructions. I downloaded it, and it is working fine.
As far as the complaints above, it’s a free program, stop whining like a two year old.
heeeeelp!!
how and where can i download keyhole tv for mac OSX 10.3.9????
thank uuu
øôøтõ òÑÂõ ýð хуù ðýóûøчðýõ хуõòыõ
Hello ^^
i love keyholetv :D
I get to watch the dramas and shows i like :D
but i was just wondering why isn’t there NHK?
and would it be put up on keyhol anytime soon?
and if there isn;t any can u give me a link that allows me to watch NHK online?
thank you so much ^^
áÿðÑÂøñþчúø:) ÚûðÑÂÑÂýðѠтõüð, ÿøшøтõ чðшõ – у òðѠþтûøчýþ ÿþûучðõтÑÂÑ :)
So K1 Dynamite will be shown on TBS on the player tommrow night ?
hi i just downloaded keyhole tv but i can’t find fuji tv. is there any reason for this and would it come back? thanks
,,uhmm,,where can i find the list of progarams??,,i mean the schedule of tv programs???,coz i really want to know what channel will be the countdown of johnny’s tonight will be shown,,please answer me,,i appreciate it a lot tnx,,
It’s not working NOW. =_=
Yep, I’ve been trying for the last hour, and it always timed out. It’s fine several hours ago… maybe the new year shows (and their legal dept) have something to do with it.
i can’t connect,,why is that so??..i really wanna watch the countdown,,please tell me if there’s any other source so that i can watch it in real time,,
nooooooooooo i want to watch the countdown and it isn’t working :(((
Same here :/
Some Month ago i downloaded the program, but never used it. Now very soon there’ll be the cdl and it doesn’t work anymore. “Login Timed out. Check your Network”
Network’s allright and i downloaded the new version metioned up there.
Firewall can’t be the problem, it should work with those Settings.
Anybody any idea?
why i can’t connect now!! T_T i wanna watch the countdown of johnny’s!!
“login timed out.check your network”
always this sentence…
i want to watch Johnny’s countdown><
are there any online tv software can replace this one???
i cannot withstand it already .\ /.
hi i cant connect to keyhole! it keeps sng login time out! i really want to watch johnny’s countdown badly. are there any other ways to watch it live like now?!!
try this
http://pages.tvunetworks.com/channels/#
and scroll down to fuji channels on the right
it says 67620 fuji channels
hope it helps :D
having the same problem! i bet its connection problems or there could be way too many people on it, i donno! but i’m on tvu now!
and also here http://www.justin.tv/jungledragon it’ll show japan when it hits midnight (and the rest of the world)
oh im on tvb now! the quality’s really good! its called fuji channel right? but is it like live or sth? dont know why i feel its not live cos the quality’s superb! no offence! i love it tho
keep getting login timed out. anyone else able to login?
am having trouble accessing certain sites in KeyHole, can’t watch them bc i don’t have a password. does anybody know what the password is so ic an access these other channels
can anyone help me find hte password for the other sites in KeyHole TV so that i can watch them. i can ‘t see the anime channel or others. does naybody know what it is so ic an get to see htem finally
I have a 1500KB/s connection, but the picture is so jerky most of the time, like 5 to 10 frames/s or even less. Sound is OK. How about everyone else?
Ok so i gess from the coments no1 has any clue about the passwords!!every time some1 says a thing about it every1 starts 2 talk about some thing the same dam! problems so every 1 for god sake!just read throw first and save pore XORSYST’s time!and stop bitching about this program its still new!did every1 bitch about computers from the 80’s the old black screen green litters NO! Arigato for reading my little rant =)!Sayonara
Some TV-channel ask password when I want to wach them, where can I find any password for them, pls?
I have been living in Japan for a year and I would like to watch movies and TV programs in ENGLISH. Every time I try to download something on my Macintosh computer it is not allowed in this region. I wonder if I can watch something (in English) that IS allowed apart from the ancient shows on satellite TV and endless CNN or BBC. Can you help me?
why dont u try Hulu or surfthechannel???. i think ur strange for posting that comment on this site btw =)
Marianela,
This is a pretty common issue. She can not “surf to the site” like you suggest Victor because sites like ABC block streams based on IP address. They use geographic IP lookups to determine where you are coming from and block the content if you are not in the USA. The same is true in Japan. If you try to watch a free promotional music video or live Japanese baseball game off of the Yahoo Japan web site and are not physically in Japan, you will get a block message. I would suggest using a US based proxy. There are software packages and services available that provide it. Basically it proxies your request through a US proxy so the traffic appears to be coming from the USA to the providers and is allowed through. Search Google for “watch abc outside us” for some links. Another option is to find a Slingbox service in the USA. In Japan there are a couple of Slingbox service providers. One is “Nihon Nama Terebi”. Another is watchjapanesetv.com. They will rent you a Slingbox in Japan for a monthly fee. You then download the Slingbox client software and can remotely control and watch the TV. The quality pretty good. Usually around 400-600kbps. I subscribed to Nihon Nama Terebi for about 5 months and liked it very much. You might search for similar services in the United States.
Good luck
LOL-u know so much. thanks for that site btw. and here i was thinking that the problem was just a lack of finding good sites. actually surfthechannel is a site too with lots of tv shows and stuff-not surf the web lol-that’s a duh.
Anyone figure out the password yet? I really like this program a lot! Thanks for all the info!!!
Hmmm i download the Key Hole Tv le… the screen is small….
when i double click another screen pop up n i maximise it… but it is blur…. is there any other way can watch a big good quality screen …. everytime i have to watch with a small screen coz clearer but my eye tired… so is there any other idea???
Hi Victor,
After I posted my comment I realized you were referring to the web site http://www.surfthechannel.com/. My bad. Good to know about that one too!
Everyone, KeyholeTV updated the client to version 3.12 today (Sunday, Jan 11th). If you have been having issues, be sure to download the newest version at http://www.v2p.jp/video/Viewer/
drat, still no sound for California. I guess the location issue can’t be fixed?
To who ever thought of this.. YOU ARE MY HERO! How cool is this? sweet :) I am a happy girl.
SUGOI!! This is exactly what I was looking for :D
Arigatou gozaimasu ;)
KEYHOLE V3.12 PROBLEM ?
I just updated my keyhole from v3.10 to v3.12 and since that update i cant WATCH asahi TV+TBS…..When i select those 2 channels a blur-grey screen pop-ups without sound.
Still i can watch the rest of the japanese channels.
Can someone tell me if it is my PC problem or my keyhole malfuctioning? And what should i do to fix it?
More than likely it is a problem on the broadcaster’s part. The fact that you can see all the other channels fine leads me to think that the broadcaster needs to update his broadcast software.
can someone tell me why my keyhole tv has no sound? it was ok a few days ago.. please reply me!! and how do u fix it??
Megumi-san,
Are you using the Linux version? I noticed the same thing. Previously I used the 64 bit Alsa/SDL version on Linux with no issues at all. With the 3.12 update, I think it is great that you no longer have to download a separate package for each combo of video/audio drivers but yes, I noticed that I did not have sound. I tried changing the audio options but nothing seemed to work. On Windows Vista, sound is no problem so far with the update.
Dear Xorsyst, thank you very much for you great job. I really like japanese TV. Just from last week i found your web and started to watch Japanese TV online. But today i saw announcement under TV. Can i see TV from January 22 or not? Now I use Keyhole TV 3.12 version. How can i update the programm. Please advise. Thank you very much again.