While it’s true that I actually haven’t watched anything on KIKU for years now (once online streaming and sharing of everything Japanese including dramas, specials and programs became prolific, I gave up all regular TV broadcasts, including KIKU and NGN), for most of my LIFE, KIKUTV was THE gateway to Japan for me and my family!
Like MOST kids here in Hawaii, my first real exposure to KIKU was back when it was still on Channel 13 and they began airing episodes of Toei’s KIKAIDAA, and from there it became a household staple!!
My grandparents on my dad’s side were Japanese speakers so it would always be on KIKU when we would drop by on weekends to visit. I remember clear memories of watching “Ikkyu-san” at Grandma’s, with her beaming “Ikkyu san smart boy!” as we watched it.
There was a Japanese kids show called “Kodomo No Jikan” where local kids were encouraged to send in their drawings and Granny would have us draw pics and she’d send them off. Quite a thrill to see YOUR drawing of Kikaidaa on TV the following week!
At the time, I thought the show was broadcast from and I always wondered how they got my drawing so fast to air it that weekend! LOL
Kikaidaa, Rainbow Man, Kamen Rider V3, 5 Rangers, Inazuman and Akumaizer 3, KIKU was my go-to place for ALL things tokusatsu, and until Star Wars and Comics took over my life from 1978 onward, I tuned in loyally each week!
Fast forward to 1994 or so and while showing my then current girlfriend episodes of Kamen Rider V3 on laserdisc, she told me that there was a samurai show called Abarenbo Shogun that had similar aesthetics to Kamen rider and that I should check it out!
Well, check it out I did, and though i didn’t know it at the time, it was my gateway BACK into all things Japanese! I was introduced by friend to J-pop and then naturally to J-dramas, and suddenly I was back to tuning in to KIKU on a regular basis!
Now on cable Channel 20, it was where I first saw all my Japanese favorites like The Chef, Aishiteiru to Ittekure, Kagayake Rintaro and Second Chance! Eventually I also broke down and paid for NGN and together they guided me through my “Golden Age” of J-Drama watching!
New Years was also a major event here as KIKU would air the Kohaku Red and White Festival along with a smattering of specials, and it really felt like you were part of this big cultural thing!
I guess the writing was on the wall when this year was the first year in decades that KIKU opted not to pick up the Red and White Festival, and now with this news of complete dissolution of all Nihongo stuff, it feels like part of my childhood has been removed! Hawaii Hochi, Kokiku Magazine and now KIKU Television, all soon to be part of the treasured past!
PS: While writing this, I had that gentle piano theme of KIKU’s broadcast station ID before each drama in my head, thankfully I saved those intros, like this one tagged before the start of KAGAYAKE RINTARO:
