Japanese radio station on 15265 KHz

[necturus]

When I first tuned it in just over an hour ago it was weak, and I couldn't make any sense of it because it was in Japanese. But it got very strong in the last half hour, and just before it signed off just now I could an ID: NHK Radio Japan. I found that surprising; East Asia doesn't usually come in well this time of day. But then it may have been a relay from a transmitter in Europe or even Canada. Shortwave stations often make such arrangements; Radio Canada, for instance, might retransmit Radio Beijing from Sackville, NB in exchange for Radio Beijing doing the same for Radio Canada in China.

But usually such retransmissions are in the language of the target area. Japanese to eastern North America makes little sense, as there's no significant Japanese community in this part of the world.