Radio transmission in the 1.7-30 MHz frequency range worldwide. Like AM radio, shortwave signals reflect back from the ionosphere and follow the curvature of the earth. As a result, shortwave (SW ...

Faced with a shortwave radio, there were a limited number of options ... It isn’t like the radio could play games or — unless you were a ham — allow you to chat with your friends.

This is KDDI Corp.’s Yamata Transmitting Station, the nation’s only facility broadcasting shortwave radio programs to overseas listeners. The station started broadcasts on Jan. 1, 1941.