KAMAISHI, Iwate Prefecture--A radio drama intended to draw attention to this coastal city devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and to encourage survivors has broken the world record for longest nonstop live radio play.
KAMAISHI, Iwate Prefecture--A radio drama intended to draw attention to this coastal city devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and to encourage survivors has broken the world record for longest nonstop live radio play.
Guinness World Records delivered the certificate to the Kamaichi city office on Jan. 23 for the “NISSAN A, Abe Reiji” drama, which aired in December on Kamaishi Saigai FM.
The drama had a running time of 8 hours, 23 minutes and 31 seconds. It was broadcast by a temporary radio station set up in April 2011 in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
“I feel good that we conveyed the plight of Kamaishi to the nation and around the world,” Kaori Ichikawa, a 42-year-old radio personality at the station, said.
The radio broadcaster joined forces with Tokyo FM Broadcasting Co., FM Iwate Broadcasting Co. and others in a bid to break the world record.
The drama was produced as an extended version of an original 55-minute series that previously aired on Tokyo FM and other broadcasters nationwide. The story follows the everyday life of an average corporate “salaryman” named Reiji Abe (a play on the English word “average”).
The live production was staged at a venue in Yokohama and started at 11 a.m. on Dec. 22. At 7:23:31 that evening, the program set the world record.
Seven voice actors played the primary characters in the play, while Iwate Governor Takuya Tasso and others joined as special guests. The radio drama also included contributions from listeners in Kamaishi.
According to Kamaishi Saigai FM, the record was made possible because the radio station does not air commercials.