When we moved REC Networks/J1 Radio to the east coast, we were well aware of the possibility of tropical conditions that could result in power outages over multiple days. The current event, Hurricane Sandy is being called a "Frankenstorm" by national news media here in the USA as it exhibits characteristics unlike other storms. The specific area of concern is that in addition to this storm, there is a front moving from the west. Forecasters are stating that the hurricane can "attract" itself to the front resulting in an increase in intensity.

You may be asking when do we actually play requests on J1. Let me clarify how I have been handling them. Of course this is subject to change in the future but it is how we do it right now.

By popular demand, J1 now has a method of taking requests for both our most recent music as well as our library of over 8,000 Japanese pop tracks from the past 11 years.

Visit J1FM.com and click on "Requests". You will be given "jukebox" buttons for the 100 newest single releases on J1. You may choose one of those tracks or click on the button at the bottom of the screen to be taken to our Music Database where you can search by artist or romaji song title. You may also go to the J1 Music Database directly and then select the track that way.

Hello J1 listeners around the world..

First of all, I want to thank everyone for listening to J1. Our TLH (total listening hours) is the highest it has been since the change to J1 in 2009.

As some of you know, outside of J1, I am involved in the promotion and advocacy of legalized community-based low power FM (LPFM) radio stations in the United States. This coming weekend, I will be attending a conference out of state and will have limited time to work on J1.

This past week, J1 has made some minor upgrades to the Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) and Tokyo Travel and Weather (TTW) systems.

In a previous update, we built an application that monitors the live twitter stream. Before that, there could have been up to a 30 second delay before the tones are broadcast. With that enhancement, if the tweet suggests a 5-lower or higher, we will not wait for the details, we will sound the alarm.

This weekend in the United States, we will be going to Daylight Saving Time. On Sunday at 2AM local time, all clocks will be moved ahead one hour.

At J1, because a majority of our audience does not observe Daylight Saving Time, we do not adjust our program schedule. This will mean that listeners in the United States (except Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, portions of Indiana and other places in the US that do not observe daylight time) will hear scheduled programming one hour later than they do right now.

Well folks, here we go into February. With the exception of some technical malfunctions we have had lately, J1 has been running fantastic. TLH (Total Listening Hours) has been up at its highest points in a few years ago when we had higher listener caps and it was easier to listen to the station. I have been receiving letters from listeners thanking us for running the station and we are even getting letters acknowledging the news and information J1 is now airing. I feel that this aspect of J1 is very important not only to Tokyo but to the rest of J1's world.