Why did the radio speak in English?
There are many theories. The radio may have been picking up short-wave programs. Or Kiki might have been listening to the programs for American troops stationed there (there are such radio stations in Europe and Japan).It was probably to show the audience how lonely and isolated Kiki felt at her new town (In the beginning of the film, the radio spoke in Japanese). At the beginning of her journey to independence, Kiki was still surrounded by familiar things: her father’s radio, her mother’s broom, and her closest existence, her “other self”, Jiji. But one by one, she loses these. The radio speaks in a foreign language (to Kiki and the Japanese audience), she breaks the broom, and Jiji no longer speaks to her. Only after that does she gain her true independence. She now has her own broom (rather, deck brush), has a new relationship with Jiji (and his family), and has her own friends in her town.
