"Samurai Radio," SF State’s very own Japanese rock, pop and punk radio show, is once again ready to rock the campus this semester at the on-campus radio station, KSFS-The State.

“Each semester, some 40 BECA students in the class staff, manage, program and develop the station concept,” said Jeff Jacoby, sound and radio arts assistant professor for the BECA department.

One of the longest continuous running radio program on KSFS currently airs only Japanese music, Jacoby said.

The self-professed “radio freak,” who acts as an advisor on KSFS, explained that the concept of Samurai Radio was born six years ago, a brainchild of a group of Japanese KSFS radio students who wanted to try broadcasting back to their own country.

Like almost every show airing on KSFS, the university’s official Internet-based radio station, Samurai Radio is run by students and is a product of BECA 505.

From “Radio Theater” to Japanese and Iranian programming, to sports shows such as “Coach’s Corner” with SF State’s head coaches, the radio offers something in the neighborhood of 40 different programs in any given week, Jacoby said.

In fall 2006, BECA major Satoshi Ijima, known to his listeners as “DJ Satoshi,” took over, becoming Samurai Radio’s resident DJ until his graduation and return to Japan last semester.

Referring to the show as one of the station's best-known programs, Jacoby attributes Samurai Radio’s success to Ijima.

“Satoshi popularized it. He had a good following in Japan,” he said. “He cared a lot about his show and I know that he worked hard on it.”

Ijima’s replacement this semester is DJ and BECA major Ayako Murakami, who is also an intern at the Bay Area radio station WILD 94.9.

The 22-year-old used to co-DJ with Ijima last semester, occasionally answering the phone and taking requests from listeners calling from as far away as Japan.

As the DJ, Murakami said she wants to break some of the rules established by Samurai Radio in an attempt to reach a larger audience.

Breaking rules would include playing Japanese country music in addition to the pop and punk already heard on the station, she said.

“I don’t feel [there are] any differences. The sounds are the same,” Murakami said of playing different genres of music.

She said she also thinks podcasting would be particularly helpful in promoting the show and widen the station’s scope both on and off campus.

"To catch the show exactly when it airs [is difficult]," she said. "Podcasts that people would be able to download and upload on their iPods would be easier.”

Economics major Aina Takahashi said she particularly appreciates that, in addition to music, it also features discussions about Japanese culture and issues.

“People can listen to popular Japanese music and learn about Japanese culture at the same time,” she said.

KSFS dates back to the late 1940s, according to Jacoby, when broadcasting was done via cables hooked up to the dorms on campus.

In the 1960s, Ben Fong-Torres, who later became a journalist for Rolling Stone magazine and now writes for the San Francisco Chronicle, was a BECA student and DJ.

“[Fong-Torres] was a DJ at the station, and is still a great fan," Jacoby said. "He came to KSFS and lectured this past semester."

In the late 1970s, KSFS was offered a frequency, something that any radio station would want.

“The university turned it down, afraid of what the students might do on the air. That’s too bad,” Jacoby said.

Although KSFS took advantage of the Internet boom in the 1990s by starting its regular online broadcasting, Jacoby said his only regret is that KSFS is not anywhere near as well listened to on campus as it ought to be.

The antenna located at the library on campus has been broken for two years, further hindering broadcasting on campus, he said.

The BECA professor said he remains positive about the radio station’s future. The only thing left to do in order to promote the station is to get the word out in any way possible, Jacoby said.

KSFS resumed broadcasting scheduled to air every Monday night from 7 p.m.to 8 p.m.

You can go to the KSFS Web site to listen live or for more information about KSFS, the shows and the DJs.