Japan is a country full of contradictions. Politically, its Constitution is democratic and Western-based, but, on the other hand, its imperial tradition is still cherished. Culturally, it is liberal and Westernized, but it is still very "Asian," paying attention to the Confucian virtues. Socially, though Japan plays a major role in export, its society is insulated and closed. There is no other country in the region that has the same attributes and the Japanese are proud of their uniqueness.

Of Japan's more than 123 million citizens, 99.2 percent are native Japanese and among the adults, 99 percent are literate. This creates a vibrant media environment with 158 dailies, more than 2,000 monthlies, hundreds of weeklies, five large commercial television networks, a public television organization, satellite and pay-TV services, a cable system and now the on-line news websites.

This report attempts to give an insight of Japan's media by giving information of ownership, and analysis of the newspapers, the reporter club system, the networks, the magazines, the radio stations, the reporting tactics and the government-media relationship.

Japan's media owners should, as stipulated by law, be Japanese citizens. Foreigners are allowed to invest and to hold not more than 25 percent of the shares. Thus the top management of the media companies is composed of Japanese, which in turn leads to the formation of distinctive aspects of management and editorial policy, such as the close relationship between government officials and media managers.

There is also a trend that media companies expand their business by establishing affiliated companies and collaborating organizations. Since the 1980's, the Fujisankei Communication Group has been running businesses like music and video, real estate and museum management through its member companies, while Asahi, with its 190 companies locally and overseas, ventured into business such as cultural activities, property management, insurance and travel.

Owing to Japan's high literacy rate, it is not a surprise to see that the Japanese are per capita the greatest readers of newspapers in the world. A Japanese family usually subscribes to a national daily and a regional or local paper. All newspapers attempt to appeal to well-educated readers but at the same time to keep those with moderate education.

Generally speaking, economic and political reports in the dailies are the most popular columns among the Japanese; Yomiuri Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun, which are famous for their sophisticated analysis, have the largest circulation. However, other content also plays a major role in attracting readers such as sensational reporting and popular culture.

In order to assess the content of Japan's newspapers and other media, it is worth taking time to study the reporter club, a unique feature in Asia. Reporter clubs are literally everywhere ranging from political parties to police stations to enhance the relationship between important figures or government officials and journalists. The member-only press club system contributes to the uniformity of news stories and generates self-censorship. Because of the fear of ostracism, few reporters dare to release stories or identity of the sources after they were told not to.

By 1997, Japan's television ownership is estimated to be about 80 million and TV networks became the major source of information. The five key networks are Nihon Television (NTV), Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), Fuji Television (Fuji TV), Television Asahi (ANB) and Television Tokyo (TV Tokyo) and are all based in Tokyo. Each is closely connected with a national newspaper. Japan's TV networks are privately owned and heavily commercial.

Since researches estimate that there are more than six television sets per every 10 Japanese and the average Japanese person watches four hours of television a day, the demand for programming is great. Most channels offer general programming, but with specialization of markets, there will be more and more 'narrowcasting' that is programming targeted at small niche audiences. Some types of programming are particularly popular with Japanese audiences such as the full-length, prime-time animated programs targeting both adults and teenagers.

One of the most exciting areas of television program is news. Previously, this field was dominated by NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai, or Japan Broadcasting Corporation in English), which is known for its accuracy. However, lately, a new opinionated approach in interviews initiated by an anchor for Television Asahi became very popular and was widely imitated by the anchors at other channels. The Sunday Project, a morning talk show of TBS has also become a popular forum for serious political debate. Politicians who participated in the forum would be asked aggressive questions which are regarded as non-Japanese. However, a lot of politicians still would like to show up because the wide viewership of these programs enable them to go directly to the people.

To the Japanese, magazines are light and entertaining readings so most of the popular magazines nationwide contain a mix of political analysis, cartoons, light news, gossip and some nude photographs.

Four popular magazines in Japan represent typical examples of editorial preferences of the Japanese. They are Sapio, Playboy, Modern Weekly and Friday. The publishing firms of these magazines also publish a number of comic books, the most popular readings of the Japanese, to secure their revenue.

The stories in comic books vary greatly. Comics are used by the author to express views on some of the latest issues regarded as taboo among journalists such as the underground sarrin gas attack or nuclear accidents.

The most prominent radio stations in Japan are NHK and Radio Japan. As a non-commercial radio run by the government, NHK, running two public radio stations, does not keep pace with the commercial ventures in terms of entertainment programming; instead, its emphasis is on public-service such as news and educational programming, which fills an important niche in Japan. As for Radio Japan, it provides shortwave overseas services.

In the 1990's, the major change for Japan's newspapers was the fact that reporters began filing stories electronically and pictures were processed digitally. These changes altered the way information was distributed and paved the way for the appearance of major newspapers' websites. Not only the big national newspapers but also the more progressive local newspapers have home pages giving Internet savvy readers the most updated information.

Though the Japanese media to a certain extent practicing self-censorship, its method of reporting especially crime stories is under severe attack by the public and the government. The Japanese government even tried to monitor the press by introducing a law to prior checking of news stories. Finally, the suggestion was withdrawn but two laws introduced in last year would prevent journalists' right to protect their confidential sources of information and to access several government-affiliated institutions.

As far as the government-media relationship is concerned, it is obvious that as said by Takeshi Maezawa, professor of communications at Kanazawa Women's University, journalists in Japan are completely captured by the government by being appointed membership on advisory councils. The traditions of the press club on the other hand also nurture journalists' fealty to their sources who are politicians and senior government officials.

Lately, Japan's media have begun joint ventures with the Western media. Nikkei and CNBC just confirmed a joint venture. It means a lot more coverage of international financial news--especially news from Japan (for CNBC) and from the U.S. (for Nikkei). This will be a good trend if producers in Japan aren't afraid to use stories that are critical of Japan's economic and trade policies.

Before that, Asahi has had a contract with CNN and CBS. NHK has alliance with ABC. SkyPerfect-DirecTV has just about every major international news organization on their satellite channels.

Ownership of the media is highly concentrated in Japan. The big papers are held by a tightly knit group of family members of the paper's founder and top management. Asahi Shimbun, for instance, is owned by Michiko Murayama and Jun-ichi Ueno, descendants of the two families which founded the paper in 1879, and by its management. Sankei Shimbun is controlled by the Shikanai family, which founded the Fujisanke media group. Yomiuri Shimbun's primary owner is Toro Shoriki, whose family acquired control of the paper in 1924.

The big five national newspapers have no ownership among themselves. Also, there is no foreign ownership of Japanese newspapers, but foreigners are permitted to invest in Japanese broadcasting, e.g. the Nikkei-CNBC joint venture in October 1999.

M&As do not fit into Japan's mass media scene. The media have been able to resist buyouts by foreigners due to Japanese laws which have prevented majority stock ownership in media until Hughes was allowed to control DirecTV. Corporate resistance to foreign ownership is another strong factor.

There is no equivalent to Rupert Murdoch in Japan's mass media as no Japan's news organization has significant operations outside Japan. Shojo Watanabe, a publisher of the Yomiuri, is a well-known figure in Japan, but unknown overseas. Japan's media figures are more like Nobuyuki Idei, the head of Sony, which has lots of overseas influence.

In June 1996, Robert Murdoch of News Corp and Son Masayoshi of Softbank teamed up to buy 21.4 percent of Television Asahi (an affiliate of Asahi Shinbum). Their move created an impact in the digital TV broadcasting scene. Believing this was the first move in a broader game plan for media dominance, Japan's newspapers quickly rushed to enhance their own cross-media capabilities, including Asahi Shinbun's buying the pair's stake from them at cost.

All five of the Tokyo commercial TV networks are owned by or affiliated with one of the big five national dailies: Yomiuri/NTV, Asahi/Asahi TV, Mainichi/TBS, Sankei/Fuiji TV, and Nikkei/Tokyo TV. Together, a paper and network constitute a media group. Prominent examples are the Fujisankei Communication Group (FCG) and Asahi Shimbun.

Fujisankei Communication Group (FCG)
Being the largest media conglomerate in Japan, FCG comprises approximately 100 member companies and 12,000 employees. Business activities of FCG's member's companies range from television network, newspaper, radio, publishing, music and video, direct marketing, real estate and museum management.

Profiles of the main member companies of FCG: (See the attached list for details)
* Television network: Fuji Television
* Newspaper: The Sankei Shimbun and other affiliated newspapers e.g. Sankei Sports, The Fuji Evening News, The Japan Industrial Journal, The Sankei Living Shimbun and The Osaka Shimbun
* Radio: Nippon Broadcasting System, Inc., whose radio network reaches more than 96 million every day, and other radio-related business such as the Nippon Cultural Broadcasting Group
* Publishing: Fuso Publishing, Inc.
* Music and video: Pony Canyon Group which encompasses the planning, production, promotion, and merchandising of compact disks, cassette tapes, motion pictures and concert videocassettes, computer game software and CD-ROMs
* Direct marketing: Fujisankei Living Service, Inc., one of Japan's largest mail-order companies
* Real estate: The Sankei Building, Inc., and affiliated companies undertaking property development, leasing and managing operations in Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima
* Museum management: FCG oversees the operations of two open-air museums, the Hakone Open-Air Museum southwest of Tokyo and the Utsukushi-ga-hara Open-Air Museum near the Japan Alps. The Ueno Royal Museum, in Tokyo, is also a member of FCG.

In 1986, Fujisankei Communications International , Inc. (FCI), was established in New York. FCI has been involved in various activities ranging from news gathering to programme production, market research and the broadcast of Japanese programmes in the US and Europe.

Asahi Shimbun
As of May 1998, Asahi Shimbun had 190 affiliated companies and collaborating organizations, both in Japan and overseas. The activities of these affiliates cover a vast range of industries, including newspapers and publishing, TV and radio, printing and delivery services, cultural activities, newspaper sales, newspaper advertisement inserts, advertising, property management, insurance, travel and social welfare. (See attached list for details of the companies)

Asahi is a leader in the area of online journalism in Japan. Created in August 1995, Asahi Shimbun's web site, asahi.com, is the country's busiest Internet news site. Asahi Shimbun Media Development Center in San Jose compiles article for the paper's web site and also gathers information on Silicon Valley.

Unlike some of its competitors, there is no link to any of Asahi's affiliated companies on asahi.com.

In trying to understand and appreciate the newspaper situation in Japan today, circulation is one place to start. The Japanese are per capita the greatest readers of newspapers in the world. Every day, about 70 million newspapers are printed in Japan. In 1999, the average figure is 1.8 people per copy.

There are about 121 daily newspapers in Japan: five large national papers and numerous regional and local newspapers. Often a Japanese family will subscribe to a national daily and a regional or local paper.

Yomiuri Shimbun (Read and Sell Newspaper) and Asahi Shimbun (Rising Sun Newspaper), Japan's two biggest dailies which have been in existence since 1870s, enjoy a well-established position in Japanese life. Yomiuri has a morning edition circulation of more than 10 million and an evening circulation of almost 4.3 million. Asahi's morning circulation is more than 8.2 million, while its evening edition is more than 4.3 million. Both papers are sold almost entirely through subscription and home delivery.

The other three national dailies also have very large circulation. Mainichi Shimbun (Daily Newspaper) has a morning circulation of more than 3.9 million and an evening circulation of more than 1.8 million, while Sankei Shimbun's numbers are half those. Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei), a business daily, sells 2.8 million morning copies and more than 1.6 million of its evening edition.

ABC-audited 1995 Circulation figures for the five national newspapers

	Morning edition	Evening edition	Total
Asahi	8,257,759	4,379,446	12,637,205
Mainichi	3,979,848	1,898,851	5,878,699
Yomiuri	10,057,883	4,399,723	14,457,606
Nihon Keizai	2,894,306	1,634,835	4,529,141
Sankei	1,921,143	958,216	2,879,359

(Source: About Japan Series 7: Japan's Mass Media published by Japan's Foreign Press Centre)

As mentioned above, most Japanese newspapers are sold by subscription and very few are sold at newsstands. The high rate of subscription (over 90%) makes Japanese papers less susceptible to advertisers and less affected by economic downturns. The high literacy rate in Japan (99%) also allows editors to assume a relatively knowledgeable and educated readership.

In terms of content, both Yomiuri Shimbun and Asahi Shimbu combine sophisticated political and economic analysis, sensational reporting and popular culture. They seek to reach the broadest possible sector of the population. Editorially all of the Japanese national dailies favour a middle and establishment position in their political coverage.

The five large national papers are different in terms of local, national and international coverage: (See attached front page of the paper's online edition)
* Asahi Shimbun generally has a more liberal stance, with heavy international and national political coverage. (There are even direct links to New York Times, Mercury Centre and CNN.com on its web site.)
* Yomiuri is regarded as a more conservative paper, with heavy national and decent international coverage. (International coverage is only a tiny section on the paper's web page and it is the only site which has direct links to the paper's affiliated TV stations.)
* Mainichi takes a middle-of-the-road position in its reporting, heavy coverage in local areas of Japan such as Tokyo, Osaka, etc., but not spectacular foreign coverage. (For example, there is no international news on the attached online edition at all.)
* Saknei is considered to be more conservative and local coverage is the paper's 'bread and butter', with decent national coverage but spotty international coverage. (Saknei's web site has no English version and covers national and local news only.)
* Nikkei is thought to be a conservative paper, with excellent international financial coverage, average local and national political coverage. (Nikkei offers 24-hour news on its web site and has a direct link to wsj.com.)

Compared with those highly circulated papers in Hong Kong, the print version of Japan's five national dailies are more conservative in design and layout. They put more emphasis on text than pictures and only Mainichi has a color front page.

English-language press does not play a major role in Japan, as Japan's homogeneous, completely Japanese-speaking society creates little market for it. The most prominent English-language paper is the Japan Times, with a circulation of almost 70,000, about half of them are expatriates in Japan.

About 40 percent of the total staffing at the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association (JNPEA)-affiliated newspapers are reporters, and almost all of these 25,000 reporters have university degrees. About 10 percent of the reporters are women.

The reporter clubs or the Kisha clubs have been a unique feature in Japan's media system.

Most government agencies, political parties, important industrial and economic organizations, local government offices, courthouses and police stations have their own reporter clubs. In total, there are about 400 of these clubs nationwide, claiming anywhere from 10 to 300 reporter-members.

Reporter clubs are serious, formal associations and attendance at their meetings by all members is mandatory. An important function of the clubs is to hold news conferences for top policy-makers on a regular basis, often at journalists' prompting.

Members of the club tend to agree in a general sense about what ought to be written about and what should be suppressed. If one member of the club ignores that tacit understanding to break a news story that reflects badly on the source, he or she faces ostracism from the reporter club. While there may be satisfaction in breaking a hot story, journalists run the risk of damaging their contacts and ruining their careers.

Like the newspapers' massive circulations, the reporter club system also contributes to a certain look-alike conformity in editorial coverage and even appearance among those mainstream papers. A story on a move by the Department of Defense might be almost identical in Yomuri, Asahi and Mainichi, because the reporters from the different papers all share the same source - a member-only news conference at the Defense Department reporter club. Such contacts over the years foster a great degree of co-operation between news sources and reporters. Bureaucrats and politicians provide journalists with inside information; journalists reciprocate by protecting the officials' anonymity when required and by suppressing potentially embarrassing or damaging stories, some times at the expense of the public's right to know.

Ronald Yates, a professor of journalism at the University of Illinois, said, "The Kisha club system is indeed a form of self-censorship. It is antiquated and exclusionary and does not belong in a 21st Century democracy." The system faces constant criticism from foreign journalists, who are, in most cases, not allowed to join these clubs. It is a cozy relationship between government agencies and some private corporations that precludes the kind of enterprise/investigative journalism that exists in the U.S. As a result very little wrongdoing is reported.

Such close affiliation between politicians and journalists is seen as 'mutually beneficial' by both parties. The success and rise within government of a bureaucrat will boost the power and prestige of the journalist. This is obvious incentive for the journalist to hold back on unfavourable news about the people whom he or she covers.

Besides, there is a benefit in another form. It is customary for businesses to give "taxi money" (usually about 20 to 30 times the cost of a taxi fare) to reporters for attending their press conferences. Government agencies do this differently, by providing press facilities and services in legally permissible types of benefits to reporters. In addition, newspapers receive lucrative ads and publishing projects from the government.

In Tokyo, there are about 50 central reporter clubs for the major national institutions. Each club has its won personality and its own bylaws. The Stock Exchange club, for instance, permits no casual backgrounders, no off-record chats between officials and reporters.

Reporter club membership is still dominated by establishment newspaper reporters and big broadcast stations. Magazines, commonly regarded as the junk food of the Japanese media, and other less established media are generally excluded from the important reporter clubs. Besides, foreign correspondents, who have been denied membership, have also complained about the practice of exclusion.

As circulations start to slip and the newspapers start to compete more for readers, it is expected that they will seek greater variety of both content and appearance. The system of reporter clubs is one of the things that will change first. In early 1993, the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association (JNPEA) established a special subcommittee to look at the reporter club issue. Among the criticisms against the system are that it is a closed system, that it exercises a monopoly of the news, and that it is too close to its sources by virtue of getting free use of a room and other favours from the news source. While much remains to be done, some reforms have already effected. For example, the Foreign Ministry's reporter club is now open to foreign media.

The five networks based in Tokyo are Nihon Television (NTV), Tokyo Broadcasting (TBS), Fuji Television (Fuji TV), Television Asahi (ANB) and Television Tokyo (TV Tokyo).

Each of these networks is connected to a major national newspaper, a link which not only enables it to share news facilities, but which has over the years given a certain distinctiveness. For example, NTV is associated with Yomiuri Group and so finds itself broadcasting programmes that center on the Giants, the Tokyo-based baseball team financed by the group, and on events that take place in the team's stadium, the Tokyo Dome. The board of directors in NTV, the network's key station located in Tokyo, often originate from the Yomiuri newspaper.

TBS started out with similar relationship to the Mainichi newspaper. Fuji Television is closely linked to the Sankei newspaper to form the Fujisankei Group. ANB and its key station ABC are closely associated with the Asahi newspaper. There are two other major shareholders in ANB - a publisher (Obunsha) and a film production company (Toei). Television Tokyo is linked to Nihon Keizai Shimbun, so that its programmes are strongly oriented towards discussions of finance and the economy.

Like their counterpart in the US, Japan's TV networks are privately owned and heavily commercial. The Japan Broadcasting Corporation (Nippon Hoso Kyokai - NHK) is the only non-commercial public radio and television broadcasting network in Japan.

At the end of 1990, there were 111 television stations (known as 'terrestrials') in Japan. The vast majority of these terrestrials belong to the five key Tokyo-based stations. Two national television channels broadcast by NHK are available all over the country.

A typical viewer in Tokyo metropolitan has a choice of two NHK channels, five commercial channels (NTV, TBS, ANB, TV Tokyo and Fuji TV), UHF channels with in-school programmes and local news, two NHK satellite channels and a pay-TV channel. According to NHK's president, Katsuji Ebisawa, NHK plans to launch a new digital service via BS (broadcasting satellite) in December 2000.

The five commercial networks produce 90 percent or more of their own programmes. Foreign programming accounts for less than 3 % of total terrestrial TV airtime. A unique viewing phenomenon is that prime-time animated programmes are particularly popular with Japanese audiences. Japan's televisions also offer a number of point-of-view programmes to the audience.

All except for a small number of television stations in Japan belong to at least one commercial network. This means they broadcast programmes originating from a single source (or key station) and are paid for clearing their schedule for each of the network's programmes. The revenues generated by network advertising go to the key station which produces or buys the programme.

Among various kinds of TV programmes, comedy programmes have been extremely popular in Japan and have been imitated by TV networks in Taiwan and Hong Kong. These comedy programmes always focus on playing embarrassing tricks on the guests or the general public. A comedy programme called Genki ga Deru Terebi (Sundays at 8 p.m.) produced by NTV has aroused public concern over the adverse influence of such kind of Japanese-style comedy programmes on the teenagers. Some speculate that the 'cruelty' of much of the comedy they see on television lead to the school bullying problem. The programme was also criticized four years ago as in one segment, the show's host comedian Beat Takesho pulled his pants off after being the victim in a cruel trick. Although NTV covered up the offending organ, since it is illegal to expose one's body in public in Japan, the network was being accused for allowing the behavior.

News programmes in NHK
The two NHK terrestrial channels are NHK General Channel (GTV) and the NHK Educational Channel (ETV), both serving the public interest. GTV broadcasts about seven hours of news programming per day, whereas ETV, in addition to its educational programming, airs news commentary, sports and cultural programmes. One of NHK's two satellite channels also features news programming, but with a more international focus than the news programming on GTV. Its shows include foreign news programming from the BBC, ABC and CNN.

NHK World TV, the overseas broadcasting service of NHK, extended its broadcasting time from 19 hours a day to 24 hours on 1 October 1999, offering the latest news from Japan to different parts of the world and enabling viewers overseas to see the programmes almost at the same time as in Japan. One of NHK's most popular current affairs programme Today's Close Up will be available in English and Japanese.

The main programmes shown in NHK World TV are regular news bulletins (Good morning Japan, News at Noon, News 7, News 9 and News 11). In-depth reporting is provided in programmes such as Today's Close Up and What Tomorrow Holds along with Tokyo Market News reporting trends in stock prices and exchange rates. Viewers can also tune into New Asia Discovery which portrays contemporary life throughout Asia, and Tokyo Area Magazine which presents live pictures gathered by TV crews on location in seven prefectures in the metropolitan area. Today's Health and Have a Good Day! are programmes on lifestyle and leisure.

NHK World TV also broadcasts news in English. NHK World Dayline Japan (broadcast twice a day) and NHK World Japan This Day cover daily news and events in Japan. NHK World Japan This Week presents a round-up of the week's news and information in Japan and the rest of Asia.

News programmes in other networks
Although Japanese rely heavily on NHK for news programmes, the public broadcaster, which has 68 broadcasting stations and 29 overseas bureaus, has been facing increasing challenges from commercial networks that also try to develop more news programmes. For example, the Fuji News Network (FNN) of Fuji TV also provides around-the-clock news coverage. With offices at 28 affiliated stations of the Fuji Network System throughout Japan as well as 19 overseas desk, FNN is one of the largest news networks in the country.

Investigative reporting is done by the day-time "wide-shows," which are live action reporting, whose audience are mainly housewives. Other popular news programmes include TBS's Sunday Project (Japan's top rated news-related programme) and Strong Things About the Japanese; NTV's NNN Weekly Magazine; TV Ashai's New Station, Super J Channel, Asamade Nama TV (All Night in Discussion) and The Scoop.

Below is an overview of these news programmes:

* Sunday Project: hosted by Shoichiro Tawara and presented in the format of roundtable discussion of politicians. It is the top news-related programme in Japan (90 percent rating), mainly because it is shown on Sunday morning without significant competition and the host Tawara is not afraid of controversy and likes his guests to debate.

* Strong Things About the Japanese:a debate show hosted by Takeshi Kitano (Beat Takeshi). The programme serves as a kind of political National Geographic, introducing Japan to people from every horizon and presenting confrontational debates on topics like delinquency and promiscuity among the young, racism and the troubled relations with Korea.

* NNN Weekly Magazine: a 26-minute programme with subjects taken from daily broadcasts, such as current events, professional sports, business and politics, entertainment news and general subjects

* News Station: first broadcast in 1985, an 80-minute news program shown weeknight at 10

* Super J Channel: an evening news show

* Asamade Nama TV (All Night in Discussion): a debate forum for experts from various fields on political themes

* The Scoop:a news show featuring in-depth reports ranging from political scandals to AIDS and sexual harassment

Nikkei CNBC
One recent development in Japan's broadcasting industry is the launch of the new business television news service, Nikkei CNBC, on 1 October 1999. The new service brings together Nikkei's television news service, Nikkei Satellite News and CNBC Japan and is the first joint venture in the television news business in Japan. The new company, Nikkei CNBC Japan Inc., is owned 51 percent by Nikkei and 49 percent by CNBC Japan, which is CNBC Asia's Japanese affiliate.

The new service is predominantly a Japanese language channel comprising live programming, business and general news and live real-time stock market and financial data during the day, and with live programming from CNBC US airing overnight. The joint venture further consolidates Nikkei's role as the leading business news and market information provider in Japan.

According to Professor Ronald Yates of the University of Illinois, the Nikkei/CNBC joint venture means a lot more coverage of international financial news, especially news from Japan (for CNBC) and from the U.S. (for Nikkei). He also thinks that this will be a good trend if producers in Japan are willing to use stories that are critical of Japan's economic and trade policies.

Yoichi Shimatsu from the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at HKU said that the Nikkei-CNBC joint venture will not disturb things too much, since Asahi has had a contract with CNN and CBS, NHK has an alliance with ABC and SkyPerfect-DirecTV has almost every major international news organization on their satellite channels.

Japan's voracious newspaper consumers devour magazines with the same intensity. The strong readership allows the survival of more than 2,000 monthlies and hundreds of weeklies.

However, Japanese regard magazines as light and entertaining readings so people only spare time for specialty magazines such as sports, music, show business, cars and electronics because the country's big national dailies have saturated the news market, so that the weekly news-magazines have a smaller role in Japan.

According to Yoichi, Sapio is one of the most popular news magazines in Japan with a circulation about 500,000. The targeted readers are the well-educated middle class. The magazine discusses international political and economic issues rather than local issues. Moreover, it contains many examples of serious investigative reporting. This reporting might be so in-depth that sometimes it causes trouble for the journalist or the publisher, but journalists at magazines are used to the practices of cautiously testing the bottom line of each breaking story.

The magazine is able to do so because the publishing house Shagakan has secured a stable revenue by issuing a number of comics. In fact, the house has the largest share of the comic book market. Usually, the content of the comic books crosses generational lines such as Shukan Shonen Jump, one of the leading comic books in Japan with a weekly circulation of 4 million. The latest popular story of the book is Dragonball. However, to some authors of comic books, it is the medium to express their viewpoints on certain issues that are regarded as taboo in media such as royal family, new religions and racism.

The other popular one is Playboy published by Shueisha. The magazine has nothing to do with the U.S.'s Playboy magazine. It is not a joint venture nor a franchise. However, it is a typical monthly for the office workers as it offers a small percentage of political or economical reports but almost 70 percent of its content devoted to a mix of beautiful landscapes pictures, cartoons and nudity photographs.

The Modern Weekly published by Kodansha is also another widely circulated magazine. It contains reporting analyses of serious political issues, but most of the pages are used to display nudity and provocative pictures.

The Friday magazine published by Kodansha is also very popular among Japanese male readers. This magazine represents as a perfect example of how photo-journalism is practiced in Japan. Here, photos speak louder than words. It has a mix of artists photos taken by hidden cameras and photos on serious issues such as nuclear wastes.

There are two major radio stations in Japan, NHK and Radio Japan. Ever since the introduction of television networks, the number of listeners of radio has been diminishing. However, the broadcast still reaches at least 50,000 listeners.

NHK is run by a board of governors appointed by the prime minister, which oversees the office of the president and chief executive of the broadcasting corporation. Though NHK has a close relationship with the government, since its management staff and budget are determined by the Japanese Parliament, it is still able to maintain independence from politics in its programming.

NHK operates two public stations. Both are devoted to news and educational programming. Though there are fixed news programs, any breaking news would be broadcast immediately through radio stations.

NHK's Science and Technical Research Laboratories designs broadcast research and development projects. It has conducted for decades detailed inquiries into the media patterns, lifestyles and attitudes of listeners and the materials is published and is available to the public.

According to Suzuki, the spokesman of NHK, the station has no problem in maintaining total independence from the government and yet the political coverage of NHK is always balanced and fair that even the opposition parties would agree.

Financially, NHK has never faced any problem. It relies on the subscription fee levied on households that watch the programs provided by NHK. These households have a contract with the broadcaster, agreeing to pay according to the amount of services received.

However, it is estimated that NHK might have to face a dilemma since Japan reaches virtual full television saturation, its expenses may increase faster than the revenues brought in through license fees.

Radio Japan is a branch of NHK to provide shortwave broadcast for overseas listeners, and programs are in 22 languages for listeners worldwide.

In response to the influence of Internet and other virtual media's challenge, Japanese newspapers have followed the American press and gone online themselves.

As of December 1996, there were 50 digital newspapers online, and the newspapers have to devote considerable resources such as time, money and personnel to this new area just to stay competitive.

Japan's newspapers are aggressive. One of the leaders is Asahi Shimbun, which took advantage of the time differential to locate its home page at the San Jose Mercury on the US West Coast in August 1995. Now, the Asahi home page gets over two million hits on an ordinary day and is the most-visited electronic newspaper in Japan.

The Mainichi has set up a Mainichi Zaurus system whereby paying subscribers can read the Mainichi on their palmtops through one of the local BBS services, and the Nikkei's Hyperpress is a multimedia effort that involves moving pictures.

Now, all the national newspapers in Japan have their websites providing news services nationally and overseas.

*www.asahi.com connected with the Asahi Shimbun runs both Japanese and English versions, by which a larger group of audience could be reached. In addition, news from The New York Times, Silicon Valley and CNN.com are also provided, which means that more international news or affairs commentaries are available for Japanese.

*www.yomiuri.co.jp connected with the Yomiuri Shimbun, on the other hand, provides a summary of news from their dailies. When compared with the Asahi news, it is obvious that international news content is weaker nor any links with overseas agencies are provided.

*www.mainichi.co.jp connected with the Mainichi Shimbun provides daily economic news and a variety of news features, lifestyle articles as well as the most popular cartoons.

*www.sankei.co.jp connected with the Sankei Shimbun chose to expand their local influence rather than to go international at this stage. So, it is the only national newspaper's website run in Japanese.

*www.nni.nikkei.co.jp connected with Nikkei Shimbun, one of the business newspapers in Japan, focuses on a 24-hour international financial and business news coverage. In addition, direct link to Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com, is provided.

*www.japantimes.co.jp connected to the English-language newspaper in Japan for expatriates provides an extensive coverage on international political and financial news.

The development of Internet actually poses a threat to the Japanese government who always wants to put the media under control. However, according to Yoichi, the government would make use of its close relationships with most of the Internet service provider run by major universities to censor the release of news stories.

Invasion of privacy and media trial
In May 1997, when a weekly magazine Focus ran a photo of an alleged teenage murderer accused in a child murder case, it sparked a national debate about media invasion of privacy and aroused public concern over the way the media cover the news.

Since then, pressure on the media by politicians and the public to self-censor, especially when reporting crime stories, has grown stronger.

However, these politicians and the public seem to have a double standard in this issue. While Focus was criticized for publishing the photo of the alleged teenage murderer, close-ups of suspects in various crime cases can still be seen, without any covering, in those day-time 'wide shows' on TV. The issue of trial by the media seems receiving little attention in Japan's media world.

The Focus case also put the reporting tactics of the Japanese press under the government's microscope. In the fall of 1999, a committee appointed by the Parliament to look into the general prevention of human rights abuses suggested censorship and prior checking as the ways to halt media abuse.

In response to the government's move, the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association (JNPEA) set up an ethics committee to conduct research on ethical problems in Japan's mass media and look at how media ethics issues are handled in other countries. The committee was scheduled to issue an interim report in April 2000 and proposed amendments to its non-abiding Canon of Journalism (see attached for the original code), which was formulated in 1946. (Details of JNPEA's interim report have not been announced by the time this project was submitted.)

Although the government has finally withdrawn its suggestion under journalists' strong opposition, the shadow of government's monitoring still prevails in Japan's media (see the following section 'Recent legislation affecting the media'). Moreover, journalists do not have high hopes on the JNPEA's interim report as the organization is regarded as part of the establishment.

Lack of investigative reporting
Another common criticism of the Japan's media is their distaste for sustained investigative reporting. Such criticism is directed to the mainstream papers which have been taking a wait-and-see approach in reporting the big scandals that have shaken Japanese politics and for not playing a role in rooting out wrong-doings and injustice in the society. Readers in Japan can only find in-depth investigative reporting in magazines such as Sapio and The Weekly Post. For example, the scandal of the former Prime Minister's possible fraudulent involvement in boosting the stock value of a company owned by his brother was only reported in the weekly magazines like Shukan Gendai and The Weekly Post.

"Tissue Paper," an online forum for the public and journalists to express their opinion of the press, reproves strongly the practice of some newspapers: 'The fact that the major dailies have been in bed with the government and industry and anyone else they see as an insider hardly comes as a surprise to anyone residing in Japan. Neither is the fact that they consistently manage to avoid breaking new ground with any news story …

'No analysis is attempted. Follow-ups are almost never done, and the stories themselves surfaced from official channels, not through any digging by the newspapers themselves. Insight and call to action are seen as dangerous and disturbing - better to stay on the sidelines with muted tones of disapproval and vague generalizations on how everyone "must try harder".'

Media's choice of words
Language (or word) is power in Japan's media. The mild language stated in NHK's stylebook somehow reflects certain kind of political correctness of the public broadcaster.

Terms taken from NHK stylebook:

Disputed term	Proper NHK usage
Tiananmen massacre	Tiananmen incident
Kuril Islands	Northern Territories
Japanese troops	Self-Defence Forces personnel
Wartime sex slaves	Comfort women
Thai democracy movement	Anti-government movement
Sumo wrestler	Hawaiian Akebono

Recent legislation affecting the media
Two laws introduced in 1999 affected journalists in Japan. In May, a freedom of information law (Law Concerning Access to Information Held by Administrative Organs) was introduced to give journalists greater access to government information. However, the new law, which will come into effect in 2001, does not cover several government-affiliated institutions. That means these institutions can be exempt from the information law and refuse to give reporters any information. In August, the parliament passed a law allowing police to use wiretaps to investigate crimes. A key concern for journalists is that the law fails to safeguard journalists' right to protect their confidential sources of information.

Following its interim report on desired modality for managing personal information released on 19 November 1999, the government has set up an expert committee to draft an outline of the bill for the enactment of a comprehensive personal-information protection law that encompasses personal information collected and stored in the private sector. The government is set to submit the bill to the Parliament in 2001.

Though agreeing that the present Personal Information Protection Law should be revised, JNPEA oppose to any moves to reinforce statutory regulations on news-collecting activities or news reporting, which will be outright threats to the freedom of the press. It says that each news organization is already making autonomous efforts to prevent the infringement of human rights.

Give-and-take between the media and the Kantei
Nothing can best represent the government-media relationship in Japan than the cozy give-and-take between the media and the kantei.

The kantei building, Japan's prime minister's official residence, is constantly watched by a flock of reporters. 'There is maybe no other country in the world where a prime minister's official residence is so open to the press as in Japan,' said Tomoaki Kamimura, director general of the Cabinet Public Relations Office. Yet, the situation is just superficial.

At 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. every day, the Chief Cabinet Secretary holds a news conference. Reporters just wait to be fed with quotes and few will ask the kantei a brutally frank or confrontational question. Major daily newspapers will then publish the details of the prime minister's schedule for the previous day. Interestingly, senior reporters usually visit the homes of top officials and bureaucrats of the kantei early in the morning and late at night for 'off the record' information and comments.

Critics have blamed such cozy give-and-take between the media and the kantei for the media's failure to discover the hospitalization of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi in early April.

The government's prolonged delay in informing the public about the health status of Obuchi, on one hand, reveals the government's reluctance to release information that is routinely made public in other advanced countries. On the other hand, the case also illustrates reporters' conditioned passivity and their cozy relationship with their news source. Some speculated officials may have tried to deceive reporters. They initially told reporters that Obuchi had gone to bed at 11 p.m. April 1 and had woken up at 6 a.m. the following day at a time when he actually was in hospital.

Media's representation in government committees
One reason journalists hesitate to break corruption stories is that they are close to their news sources, and often loyal to them. According to Takeshi Maezawa, professor of communications at Kanazawa Women's University, the reporter clubs extend the tradition of reporters' fealty, not to the employers, but to their sources.

Journalists in Japan are captured by the government or its enterprises, their two main sources, in various ways.

According to a research in 1988, 100 out of 212 government councils contained media representatives. It is common to see journalists and editors joining government advisory councils, which are responsible for making recommendations on various policies to the government.

In his book, The Japanese who are easily deceived, Raisuke Miyawaki, the first Press Secretary of the Prime Minister's office, criticized the Japanese newspapers for not telling the truth.

Miyawaki said: 'Since the Meiji era, an iron triangle relationship - politician, government bureaucrats and industry - has been controlling Japan. … However, after the cold war and the bubble economy burst, journalism was added to the triangle. Now it has become a quadrangle relationship.'

No party in this quadrangle would like to change.

According to Miyawaki, it is common for the chairmen and presidents of large newspaper companies to receive a decoration from the government. The decoration means superiority for journalists. Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that these papers seldom make proper criticism over politicians, bureaucrats and industries.

Also, journalists can be appointed as members of the government committees. For example, reporters who are following the Ministry of Finance can be members of a prestigious reporter's club called the 'Financial Research Group'. Pressure also comes from the advertising department. Reporters are discouraged to expose the dark side of the companies that advertise in the paper.

Coverage on imperial family
Japan's mass media rarely report anything negative about the imperial family and the family has been insulated from the media's frenzy. However, facing increasingly keen competition, nowadays, the newspapers have been paying greater attention to news about the imperial family.

The way that the press reported about Princess Masako's pregnancy early this year aroused public criticism. Asahi Shimbun received about 390 angry letters about its decision in February to break the news that the princess had shown signs of pregnancy. The Asahi report about Masako triggered an unusual frenzy in Japan, in which camera crews tried to track her every move and reporters were gathered, paparazzi-style outside her parents' home. The press coverage on the royal pregnancy not just led to strong public criticism, but was even blamed for the princess' miscarriage.

The environment in which Japan's mass media operate comprises two sides. On one hand, it is highly commercialized, dynamic, technologically advanced and information-flooded. On the other hand, it is a closed and interwoven system involving interests of various parties within an oppressive and manipulated society.

Government agencies and corporate enterprises exercise tremendous control over the media through various mechanisms including the reporter clubs, appointment of journalists into government advisory councils, special favors and advertising.

Having grown comfortable with the established structure, the media end up sustaining that order and being part of it. They tend to use sensational reporting to divert people's attention from the real problems in the society.

However, there has been growing public demand and pressure on newspapers to stop just being spoon-fed with news and information but to start providing comprehensive reports and analyses, doing investigative reporting into what the government is actually doing and why. In short, reporters are urged to stop seeing themselves as quiet observers but to be their readers' eyes and ears.

In fact, there has been an increasing number of journalists who know how to exploit the situation and do more investigative reporting, but these reporters are usually regarded as 'match-pump' in the system.

In terms of reporting tactics, public criticism to individual cases such as the Focus case has led to periodic pressure from the government. The proposed bill to revise the present Personal Information Protection Law has already led to much discussion and awareness among journalists on privacy intrusion. There is also an upcoming plan to revise on the JNPEA's Canon of Journalism, which was adopted in 1946, to correspond to the ongoing changes in the society.

The 1946 constitution of Japan guarantees freedom of expression unconditionally, however, self-censorship still reigns in the discussion of a number of sensitive issues.

Sensitive topics are usually those related to national and international politics. They include the imperial family, new religious sects, political groups, socially discriminated groups, organized crimes and topics related to strategic interests e.g. Japan's nuclear development. On the international stage, the G-7 and ASEAN are never criticized, since Japan is eager to keep its membership.

New taboos keep emerging as the media (usually the TV and magazines) try to do more investigative stories and dig into the unexplored topics. One of them is the nerve gas factory. In 1995 a couple of newspapers which covered the issue were closed down. Fuji TV could follow up on the nerve gas factory story only 'up to a certain limit' and were under pressure to kill the scoop.

Yet, TBS's live interview with Tokyo's mayor regarding his discriminating remark on the immigrants from Korea, China and Taiwan may be breaking the convention as a high official openly talked about the racial tension in the Japanese society.

As newspapers are losing ground to other media, the underlying pressure for the mainstream papers to change is even greater. Moreover, ongoing technological advances and increasing involvement of foreign media (e.g. admission of foreign reporters into some reporter clubs and joint-venture with foreign media) will bring new experiences and perspectives to Japan's media world. Such forces will be a strong undercurrent in the established quadrangle relationship among politicians, government bureaucrats, private businesses and the media.

The Canon of Journalism
(Adopted by the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association in 1946 and revised in 1955)

The role to be played by newspapers in rebuilding Japan as a democratic and peace-loving nation is decidedly of great importance. In order to realize this mission in the fastest and most effective manner possible, it is necessary for every newspaper in the nation to adhere to a high ethical standard, elevate the prestige of its profession, and carry out its functions to the fullest.

Aware of the significance of their mission, democratic Japanese daily newspapers, large and small, have met in the most cordial spirit, organized the Nihon Shinbun Kyokai (The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association), formulated as its moral charter the Canon of Journalism and have pledged to endeavor with the utmost sincerity to realize these principles.

The Canon of Journalism, which stresses the spirit of freedom, responsibility, fairness and decency, constitutes a standard which should govern not only news and editorial writers but to an equal extent all persons connected with newspaper work.

1. Freedom of the Press
   The press should enjoy complete freedom in reporting news and in making editorial comments, unless such activities interfere with public interests or are explicitly forbidden by law, including the freedom to comment on the wisdom of any restrictive statute. The right of the press should be defended as a vital right of mankind.

2. Sphere of News Reporting and Editorial Writing
   The freedom of news reporting and editorial writing should be subject to the following voluntary restraints:
   

   1. The fundamental rule of news reporting is to convey facts accurately and faithfully.

   2. In reporting news, the personal opinion of the reporter should never be inserted.

   3. In treating news, one should always remember and strictly guard against the possibility of such news being utilized for propaganda purposes.

   4. Criticism of individuals should be limited to that which could be said directly to the individual involved.

   5. Partisanship in editorial comments, which knowingly departs from the truth, undermines the true spirit of journalism.

3. The Principle of Editorial Comment
   An editorial comment should be a bold expression of the writer's belief and conviction and not a flattering speech. Furthermore, in writing an editorial comment, the writer should maintain the public spirit of being a speaker for those who otherwise have no means of voicing their opinions. The role of a newspaper as a public organ should be upheld most strongly in this regard.

4. Fairness
   The honor of an individual should be respected and protected as are his other fundamental human rights. Those who are to be criticized should be given the opportunity to defend themselves. Mistakes, if made, should be retracted immediately upon receipt of information that the article in question is false and should be rectified.

5. Tolerance
   A fundamental principle of democracy recognizes the freedom of individual assertions and counter-assertions, and should be reflected clearly in the editing of newspapers. The tolerance to allot just as much news space introducing and reporting the policies which a newspaper opposes as it would allot to others which it supports is a fundamental character of democratic newspapers.

6. Guidance, Responsibility and Pride
   The principal difference between newspapers and other commercial enterprises is that newspapers in their reportorial and editorial activities exercise great influence over the public. The public depends on newspapers as their chief source of information and consequently newspapers affect their judgment of public events and problems. From this distinction arises the public character of journalistic enterprises and the special social status of journalists. The journalists' realization of their responsibility and pride in their work are fundamental in ensuring their special status. These two points must be observed by each individual journalist.

7. Decency
   A high sense of public decency is naturally required of newspapers because of their share of influence over public opinion. Such a standard of decency can be achieved by abiding with the above-mentioned principles. Newspapers and journalists, when they fail to observe these principles, will invite public condemnation and disapproval by other papers and journalists and in the end will be unable to operate or work. Therefore, all members of the Nihon Shinbun Kyokai should endeavor to cooperate and maintain a high ethical standard by promoting their moral unity, guaranteeing free access to news material and assisting each other in newspaper production.

   Thus, the association of newspapers which strictly observes the Canon of Journalism shall be able to accelerate and ensure the democratization of Japan and simultaneously elevate Japanese newspapers to world standards.

Below are the major journalists associations in Japan:
Japan Audit Bureau of Circulations, JABC
Japan Local Newspaper Association, JLNA
Japan National Press Club, NPC
Nippon Press Centre, Ltd
The Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan
The Foreign Press Centre Japan, FPC
http://www.nttls.co.jp/fpc/
The Japan Congress of Journalists, JCJ
http://www.tky.3web.ne.jp/~jcj/e_index.html
The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association (JNPEA) / Nihon Shinbun Kyokai (NSK)
http://www.pressnet.or.jp/
Copyright Research and Information Centre, CRIC
http://www.cric.or.jp/crice/
Japan Cable Television Association, JCTA">
http://www.catv.or.jp/english/INDEX77.htm
The National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan, NAB
http://www.nab.or.jp/htm/english/englishtop0.htm

Japan-related web sites

1. Key Japan
   www.keyjapan.com/opening1.html

2. AT&T World Net's Japan Cyber Guide
   www.att.ne.jp/cyberg/doing/index.htm/

3. CIA Factbook (U.S.)
   www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ja/html

4. US Congress Library
   http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/jptoc.html

Web sites of Japan's media

1. Asahi Shimbun
   www.asahi.com/english/english.html
   www.asahi.com/cinfo/english/contents.html

2. Mainichi Shimbun
   www.mainichi.co.jp/english/

3. Daily Yomiuri
   www.yomiuri.co.jp/index-e.htm

4. Nihon Keizai Shimbun
   www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/

5. Sankei Shimbun
   http://www.sankei.co.jp/main.html

6. Japan Times
   www.japantimes.co.jp/misc/aff.html
   www.japantimes.co.jp/

7. Chinese Review Weekly (the only Chinese weekly in Japan)
   www.chubun.com

8. Japan Update
   http://japanupdate.com/

9. Nippon Television Network Corp.
   www.ntv.co.jp/index2.htm

10. Fuji Television
    www.fujitv.co.jp/en/

11. Television Asahi
    www.tv-asahi.co.jp/(Japanese only)

12. Television Tokyo
    www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/(Japanese only)

13. Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS)
    www.tbs.co.jp/

Others

1. Asiamedia
   www.asiamedia.ucla.edu.htm

2. Asia Source
   www.asiasource.org/experts.cfm

3. Freedom Forum
   www.freedomforum.org

4. Tissue Paper
   www.jabam.com/Pages/tissue%20paper.html

5. Yoichi Shimatsu, Jouranlism and Media Studies Centre, University of Hong Kong

6. Tetsuya Nishihara, Ji Ji Press

7. Carl Freire, Associate Editor, Asian Survey, UC Berkeley

8. Ronald Yates, Professor of Journalism, University of Illinois

9. "About Japan" Series 7: Japan's Mass Media 1997, published by Foreign Press Centre, Japan

10. Facts about Japanese Newspapers 1999, published by The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association, NSK (Nihon Shinbun Kyokai)