Tokyo TV station breaks practice with a news flash about Ukraine crisis
Japan's TV TOKYO departed from its common practice of "sticking to a scheduled playlist no matter what the breaking news is" by interrupting a movie on air on Thursday afternoon with a news flash on the ongoing tensions in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday authorized "a special military operation" in the Donbass region, and Ukraine confirmed that military targets across the country were under attack.
TV TOKYO airs a news flash on the tensions in Ukraine on Thursday.
Chinese netizens said on Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, that the rare move was breaking news itself, indicating "something severe is happening."
The privately owned TV TOKYO, established in 1964, is also known as Teleto and is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime.
There's a saying in Japan: "It is not that serious as long as TV TOKYO is broadcasting anime."
A TV screenshot collage shows TV TOKYO airing anime as usual while other stations broadcast breaking news on an earthquake in Japan's Iwate Prefecture.
on March 11, 2011, TV TOKYO launched an "emergency" broadcast eight minutes after NHK released a news flash when northeastern Japan was struck by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
The TV station resumed airing of animation on the morning of March 13, making it Japan's first TV station to do so.
