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The story
Elon Musk, founder of X (formerly Twitter), brought up the idea of buying a Japanese TV station in a post on X, sparking a wave of discussion after Tokyo Sports picked up the story. Japan’s Broadcast Act caps foreign voting rights in broadcasters at under 20%, but on 5ch users repeatedly pointed out that Fuji TV and Nippon TV’s actual foreign-ownership ratios already exceed that cap, splitting opinion between “it’s legally impossible” and “the rule just isn’t being enforced properly.”
Elon Musk sparks buzz with X post asking about buying a Japanese TV station: “Would the Japanese government allow it?”
September 28, 2026, 11:46 AM — Tokyo Sports WEB
A post by entrepreneur Elon Musk, who is also the founder of X, is generating buzz on X (formerly Twitter).
Source: tokyo-sports.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
There's a law saying you can't go over 20%
The Broadcast Act stipulates that, to prevent foreign capital from controlling broadcasters, foreign voting rights must be kept under 20% (they must not reach 20% or more).
Overview of the Broadcast Act's foreign-ownership rule (the under-20% rule)
Basic rule: key terrestrial, BS, and CS broadcasters and certified broadcast holding companies must keep foreign shareholders' voting rights under 20%.
15%+ notification/disclosure: once foreign voting rights hit 15% or more, the company must make periodic public disclosures.
20%+ triggers penalties: once the 20% threshold is reached, the broadcaster becomes subject to sanctions, including revocation of its broadcasting certification.
https://mainichi.jp/articles/20210408/k00/00m/040/243000c
That rule isn't actually being followed
Hasn't Fuji TV been over the limit this whole time?
And pay a ton of taxes while you're at it
Didn't seem like his thing
When it comes to infrastructure, broadcast is strong at pushing the same content out to everyone at once, so it does have some real advantages
Wasn't there talk of him buying CNN before?
・Nippon TV: foreign-ownership ratio ~24%
Why "Fuji and Nippon TV" are allowed to exceed the ratio that got Tohoku Shinsha in trouble
https://diamond.jp/articles/-/267285
Under the Broadcast Act's foreign-ownership regulation, even though the foreign voting-rights ratio exceeded 20%…
"It's Nippon TV!" "No, it's Asahi!"
That was a fun one
If a few stations folded, could the spectrum actually get put to good use?
Even if a terrestrial station went under, that spectrum can only be used for broadcasting, so nobody would buy it.
In fact, when the Open University of Japan pulled its terrestrial broadcast, the freed-up frequency was put up for sale and nobody bought it.
That's really the only option left at this point
And Elon would turn it into a hardcore conservative network, just like Fox
If this guy seriously goes for it, it stops being a "will he get crushed like Horie" situation — it becomes US vs. Japan, and the real question is whether Japan gets crushed
Build newspapers and TV all at once — key stations and local affiliates included
Have the papers focus on foreign affairs, basically US news and the LDP
And let Yoshimoto Kogyo run the TV side (Japan's biggest comedy talent agency)
A media "Black Ship" (referencing Commodore Perry's ships that forced Japan open in 1853)
Not all of them, but I'd love it if he became the sole sponsor of TBS's Monday 8-9pm slot and revived period dramas under an "Elon Theater" banner
It's not really being enforced properly though — Fuji's over 30%, for instance
Scammer types keep slipping through no matter what I do (´・ω・｀)
Maybe the problem isn't the people you're blocking —
have you considered that the problem might be you, for blocking everyone?
TV Tokyo's a lost cause too at this point
The law's strict, but they take in retired bureaucrats (amakudari), so enforcement is a joke
Even if he managed to buy one, they could just change the law and confiscate it — so bribing the lawmakers is really the surer bet
Background and key points of the debate
Japan’s Broadcast Act caps foreign voting rights in broadcasters at under 20%, and exceeding that threshold can lead to revocation of a station’s broadcasting certification. However, reporting by outlets like Diamond has pointed out that Fuji TV’s foreign-ownership ratio sits at roughly 32% and Nippon TV’s at roughly 24% — both over the cap — making the gap between regulation and reality a long-running issue. The thread split between those arguing a takeover is “legally impossible” because of the law, and those arguing “enforcement is lax, so there are loopholes,” with the latter view shaped by how past foreign-ownership violations involving Tohoku Shinsha and Fuji TV were actually handled. Notably, the thread never gets into the technical wrinkles of how foreign-ownership ratios are actually calculated — such as how directly held shares are treated versus shares registered under trust banks — meaning the headline percentages alone don’t tell the whole story.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Breaking News+) thread “[x] Elon Musk sparks buzz with X post asking about buying a Japanese TV station: “Would the Japanese government allow it?”.”
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