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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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But NHK is still missing wtf…
I get to watch NHK yesterday and the day before but today its missing again.
mac version keep getting error’s for me …
can anyone please fix the prob thanks ^-^
How do you get passwords for the channels that require them?
Since a few hours now, I can’t connect to the servers.
There is a message in red : server peforms logout. please wait.
Is that normal or do I have to do something ?
Thanks by advance.
lietally channel surfing just now and found FMA: Brotherhood lol. Dont know the channel, but it was 46.
And there were like 14 square enix commercials, do they run japan? jesus.
……… ‘Login timed out. check your Network’
whats this ?
i keep clicking on ‘off live’ and it still doesnt work ><
hi, the same is happening with the program in my computer, since today at 5.30 in the morning
its not working:( login timed out. check your network. whats this? i kept clicking off line button or i close it and open again. whats wrong?HELP ME PLEASE. :(
I can’t watch keyholetv because it’s always stoping
Hello Guru, what entice you to post an article. This article was extremely interesting, especially since I was searching for thoughts on this subject last Thursday.
How do you get the passwords for the channels that require them?
This is so cool!!!!!!!!! i am watching full house right now. with japanese subtitles weeeeeeeeeeeeeeh :)) and i am watching the new program the quiz show.
It would be great if every tv station had a online view with a delay. In our country online tv is growing in popularity and it’s a great alternative to normal broadcast for tv stations to get viewers
The TV Tokio Screen is wrong now. I stumbled on it by accident.
Very nice tool but I think that it will not be very competitive on the market and people will not use this program because nowadays, on the internet are many television websites or directories like http://www.soltrago.com or other, which allow to watch TV from all over the world , including Japan for free and with no registration. The main advantage of this kind of websites is that people do not to install or to download anything to his computer in order to watch Japanese TV channels.
hi….i’ve tried to download this,,,but it keeps failing,,,,everytime i try to run the program,,,it stated that ‘error launching installer’ can someone help me????
hi, im very happy with this program. can u help me with this laggy thing? i cant watch because most of the time it’s so lag. thank you. =)
Where is NHK T__T I don’t have it for several days….
hola
yo solo queria decir que a mi me encanta yamapi
soy de mexico y me encantaria conocerlo
tengo 16 años
vivo en el estado de guanajuato
y solo quiero decir
q estoi juntando todo el dinero posible para ir a conocerlo
desde hace dos años se de el y tengo mi cuarto lleno d el
posters
y me se toda su biografia completa
lo amo
tal vez io no se su idioma
pero me encantaria conocerlo es el sueño d mi vida
¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ te amo yamapi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
gracias por su atencion
con mucho cariño ana cristina
why keyhole doesn’t working? :<
it stopped working, nooo~
anybody knows what happened? is it just me?
it better get back soon, or else ;~;
i need keyhole, I NEED EEEEEET.
it’s working fine for me right now. it’ still missing NHK but I can do without it for now.
PLS contact me if you can run this program and see the channels just like normal TV, if can do so tell me what do I need to upgrade to get that perfect view. Mines keeps some what laggy and voice is not sync. Thanks
keyhole tv works with me just fine ^_^, had already watched naruto shippudden,bleach and konkatsu since last week…wonder what happened to NHK seems its suddenly gone…
btw, how do I watch channels with passwords on it??? kinda curious what show they offer lol…
watch japanese Live tv here
http://forum.kuhu.tv/topic-t505.html
sorry, just a typo
the URL of japanese tv onilne is
http://en.kuhu.tv/live-tv/japanese-tv.html
lol this is amazing
I’m watching some kind of sales show selling Dyson hoovers? it’s amazing how excited they seem to get over something so simple ^_^
is NHK back on, if so, what does it look like, as in the characters written?
Is Keyhole not working again?
I cant log on all of the sudden.
{ mr Brian} Keythole tv: watch Live Japanese tv online!+ {mr brain}
Hi
Would anyone know of a method of watching Kansai TV (http://www.ktv.jp) online?
Thanks!
certain station require a passward to watch, how do i get the password?
hi! is it possible to develop this software to be an iphone app? coz that would be sweet.. hehe..
some tv need password to be filled .how can i find the passwords…
how do you get the passwords
@all who ask about passwords
the passwords are to get access to shows that individual people run. As I understand it, it is not actually Japanese TV, but stuff that users can run via Keyhole Video. You could sometimes find Japanese TV on it, but it is not what is actaully being broadcasted on live television at the moment you are watching it.
So, I would guess you would have to contact the individual who is running that channel to get the password. There is no ‘end all be all’ solution to this.
one question; how i can i do a tv program with KeyHoleTv?
Thanks for telling us about keyhole. My question is, can the TV programs be recorded to the hard drive? The time difference makes if inconvenient for my wife to watch the shows she’d like because they are on very early in the AM. Is there a third party utility you know of that would allow this? Thanks in advance.
wow. thanks for sharing! now I can watch my favorite TV Show in TBS! thanks~~