The magazine of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan

June 2021 · Volume 53 · No. 6

THE ANGERGAMESFuror over Tokyo 2020 Olympics
has left Japan’s media struggling
to find their voiceTakanori Hashimoto,Joseph Wu, Ken Ishii,
Jon Mitchell – andTadaaki Shimizu

Your June PAC kicks off with celebrated Shoji player Takanori Hashimoto, with Taiwan’s Foreign Minister
Joseph Wu and vaccine specialist Ken Ishii to follow. The June 16 th Book Break features Jon Mitchell on
Pacific pollution. All with fine dining, courtesy of your Iron Chef, Tadaaki Shimizu.
Your FCCJ has never been a better place to eat and enjoy high profile press conferences, Book Breaks, andSaturday Nite Live. Every week of every month, your Club serves up topical presentations from politicians,
writers, and cutting-edge specialists in the news. Come join us soon.

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. Home from home for the intelligent and hungry.
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THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS’ CLUB OF JAPANMarunouchi Nijubashi Building 5F, Marunouchi 3-2-3 Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-0005, Japanwww.fccj.or.jp E-mail: front@fccj.or.jp Tel: +81-3-3211-3161 Fax: +81-3-3211-3168

03 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

In this issue
June 2021 · Volume 53 · No. 6
Contact the Editors
no.1shimbun@fccj.or.jp
Publisher FCCJ
Editor Justin McCurry
Designer Julio Shiiki
Editorial Assistant Naomichi Iwamura
Photo coordination Hiroko Moriwaki, Norio Muroi
Publications Committee
Justin McCurry (Chair), Peter O'Connor, Suvendrini
Kakuchi,Monzurul Huq, Robert Whiting, David McNeill
FC C J B OA R D O F D I R EC TO R S
President Isabel Reynolds, Bloomberg L.P.
Special Advisor to the President
Monzurul Huq, Prothom Alo, Dhaka
1st Vice President Andy Sharp, Nikkei Asian Review
2nd Vice President Walter Sim, Straits Times
Treasurer Mehdi Bassiri, O.B.M. Co., Ltd
Secretary Ilgin Yorulmaz,
Freelance/BBC World Service Turkish
Directors-at-LargePeter O’Connor, Freelance
Simon Farrell, Custom Media K.K.
Mary Corbett, Cresner Media
Daniel J. Sloan, Freelance/Nissan Motor
Kanji Gregory Clark, Freelance
Associate Kanji Vicki L. Beyer, Freelance
Ex-officio Khaldon Azhari, PanOrient News
Regular Reserve Director: Pio d'Emilia, SKY TG 24
FC C J C O M M I T T E E C H A I R SDiversity Co-Chair and Board, Liaison: Ilgin Yorulmaz
Co-Chair and Board Liaison: Walter Sim
Publications Chair: Justin McCurry,
Board Liaison: Peter O’Connor
Website Chair and Board Liaison: Simon Farrell
Associate Members’ Liaison Chair: TBA
Board Liaison: TBA
Entertainment Chair: Sandra Mori,
Board Liaison: Walter Sim
Exhibition Chair: Bruce Osborn,
Board Liaison: Peter O'Connor
Film Chair: Karen Severns, Board Liaison: Dan Sloan
Finance Chair and Board Liaison: Mehdi Bassiri
Food & Beverage Co-Chair: Robert Kirschenbaum,
Co-Chair: Pio d'Emilia, Board Liaison: Mary Corbett
Freedom of Press Co-Chair: Justin McCurry,
Co-Chair: Simon Denyer, Board Liaison: Ilgin Yorulmaz
House & Property Chair and Board Liaison: Andy Sharp
Human Resources Chair and Board Liaison: Walter Sim
Information Technology Chair: TBA
Board Liaison: TBA
LAW Co-Chair: Koichi Ishiyama,
Co-Chair: Suvendrini Kakuchi
Board Liaison: Peter O’Connor
Public Relations (incorporating Marketing
Membership)
Chair and Board Liaison: Simon Farrell
Membership Co-Chair: Andrew Horvat
Co-Chair: Monzurul Huq, Board Liaison: Peter O'Connor
Professional Activities Co-Chair: Tetsu Jimbo
Co-Chair: David McNeill, Board Liaison: Andy Sharp
Special Projects Chair: Haruko Watanabe,
Board Liaison: TBA
DeRoy Memorial Scholarship Co-Chair: Abby Leonard
Co-Chair: Kazu Takada, Board Liaison: Ilgin Yorulmaz
Compliance Chair: Kunio Hamada, Board Liaison: TBA
Election Chair: Reed Stevenson

JUSTIN McCURRYT

he first few months of this year have been dominated by the Tokyo
Olympics and Japan’s struggle to get its Covid-19 vaccine rollout
underway. Have Japanese newspapers and broadcasters fairly reflected public sentiment on those two key issues, or is their coverage influenced by other, more opaque factors? As the Number 1 Shimbun went to press,
the Asahi Shimbun was alone among the daily broadsheets in calling for the
Games to be cancelled, while criticism of the achingly slow pace of coronavirus
inoculations is mainly to be found in the international media. Kosuke Takahashi
explains why mainstream news organizations have found it so hard to break rank
on the Olympics, while Riko Muranaka exposes the legal and political roots ofthe media’s vaccine hesitancy. David McNeill talks to Manabu Shintani, executive
director of Shukan Bunshun, about what lies behind the magazine’s insatiableappetite for confrontation, and Eric Johnston looks at how the FCCJ can improve
its ties with Kansai-based journalists. Elsewhere, Fred Varcoe continues hisseries on Japan’s YouTube sensations, Suvendrini Kakuchi uses a recent Deep
Dive session to examine the pandemic’s impact on mental health, and Charles
Pomeroy revisits the incredible life and career of Ichiro Urushibara, who diedlast month.

THE FRONT PAGE
04 From the President
Isabel Reynolds

COVER STORY
05 Watchdog or cheerleader?
Kosuke Takahashi

FE AT URES
08 A dose of docility
Riko Muranaka

10 Scoop machineDavid McNeill

13 Three men in a pub
Fred Varcoe

16

OPINIONTime to rethink the FCCJ’s structure

17

OBITUARY
Ichiro ‘Ken’ Urushibara

19

CLUB NEWSJapan’s mental health crisis

Andrew Sharp

Charles Pomeroy

Suvendrini Kakuchi

21 Go WestThe Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan
Marunouchi Nijubashi Building 5F
Marunouchi 3-2-3 Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-0005
Tel: (03) 3211-3161 Fax: (03) 3211-3168 fccj.or.jp
Published by the FCCJ All opinions contained within
Number 1 Shimbun are those of the authors.
As such, these opinions do not constitute an official
position of Number 1 Shimbun, the editor or theForeign Correspondent’ Club of Japan.
Please pitch and send articles and photographs, oraddress comments to no.1shimbun@fccj.or.jp
Read the Number 1 Shimbun online:

www.fccj.or.jp/number-1-shimbun.html

Eric Johnston

23 New members, New in the library,

Join the Film Committee, Regular by eggs
EXHIBITION

25 Oyako photo matsuri

Cover illustration: Julio ShiikiINDEX04 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

THE FRONT PAGE

From the President
Dear members,

D©FCCJ / JULIO SHIIKI

on’t leave the FCCJ in limbo! That’s
my slogan for June, and for the
next few weeks I will be repeating
it until I go blue in the face. Ourelection for the Board is coming up and it’s vitalthat it goes smoothly so that a new Board canbe appointed immediately to steer the Club
through the most difficult time it’s ever faced.
That means we need people to run as Directors
and Kanji, and we also need everyone eligible
to vote. What we must avoid at all costs is aninconclusive election like the one we held ayear ago, which forced us to repeat the ballot
twice and resulted in a caretaker Board that for
two months was unable to take any concrete
steps to improve the situation.
You may think voting’s a hassle, but it’s easierthan ever now that we have the ElectionBuddy
system, introduced by my very capable colleague, Reed Stevenson. Not everyone used
it when we voted on the budget in the spring,probably because it was unfamiliar. Startingon June 9, please keep an eye out for an email
from electionbuddy.com. This will be yourballot, including a unique access key that will
eliminate the process of hand-counting, thus
reducing the risk of errors. Online voting helps
us save on costs, which is particularly important at this point, as the Club continues to bepummeled by the pandemic. Please set aside a
few minutes to do this in June, help ensure thefuture of the FCCJ, and avoid being pestered totake part in a repeat election. While we will beoffering other methods of voting for those who
cannot take part online, please make sure you
don’t vote twice.
I’m aware that many members haven’t visited
the Club in recent months, due to understandable health concerns. That may mean that you
don’t personally know the people on the ballot.
Please don’t let that stop you voting for them.
I would urge you to read their statements, ask
around, and pick a full quota of Board members based on the information available to you.
In addition, we will be presenting to you again aseries of proposed amendments to our Articles
and Bylaws. We’ll be re-sending information onthese in the near future.

More and more Club members tell me they’vebeen vaccinated, or at least have appointments
in hand, so the recovery from the pandemic isfinally starting to seem less like a hallucination.
As I mentioned in a previous message, theBoard decided some months ago to take partin the Japan Market Expansion Competition, in
which a group of young businesspeople was
assigned to conduct research for the FCCJ
and plan all sorts of improvements, including
financial ones. As the inoculation drive accelerates, and our members are once again able togather, I’m hopeful the new Board will be able
to put the JMEC plan into action, and prove thatour 76-year-old organization has a vital role toplay in the 2020s.
● Isabel Reynolds has been reporting for
Bloomberg in Tokyo since 2012. She has lived inJapan for more than 20 years and been a regularmember of the FCCJ for most of that time.

INDEX05 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

COVER STORYWATCHDOGORCHEERLEADER?
Calls for Tokyo Olympics
to be cancelled a litmus
test for Japanese media
independence

JULIO SHIIKI - FCCJ

KOSUKE TAKAHASHI“T

he Yomiuri Shimbun is supporting the Tokyo 2020 Games.”
So reads the message, in Japanese, printed on a huge drop
curtain hanging near the main entrance to thenewspaper’s headquarters in Tokyo. For goodmeasure, the paper’s name is highlighted in
between the Olympic and Paralympic logos.

The Yomiuri is not alone in shouting its support for Tokyo 2020 from the rooftops. Japan’s
other big three daily papers – The Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun and Nikkei Shimbun –prominently display similar messages, large
and small, in support of the Games at theirentrances to their buildings.
There is a simple explanation for their enthu-

INDEX06 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

WATCHDOG OR CHEERLEADER?

PHOTOS BY KOSUKE TAKAHASHIThe “big four”
dailies became
official Tokyo
2020 partners,
each stumping
up a whopping¥6 billion (US$55
million) to theTokyo Organizing
Committee of
the Olympic andParalympic Gamesfor the privilege.

siasm. In January 2016, the “big four” dailies
became official Tokyo 2020 partners, eachstumping up a whopping ¥6 billion (US$55
million) to the Tokyo Organizing Committeeof the Olympic and Paralympic Games for theprivilege. Two years later, The Sankei Shimbun
and The Hokkaido Shimbun became official
supporters – a rank below official partner status – with each paying about ¥1.5 billion.
The Japanese broadsheets weren’t the firstnewspapers to become Olympic sponsors. In
March 1997, Australia’s two biggest newspaper
publishers, News Corp. and John Fairfax Holdings Ltd., became domestic sponsors of the2000 Sydney Games. They were the first media
organizations to associate themselves with theOlympics in this way in the event’s history.
There were concerns at the time that the two
newspapers involved - News Corp’s Daily Telegraph and Fairfax’s Sydney Morning Herald –would weaken their commitment to fair reporting by being too close to the Olympic machine.
More than two decades later, many are voicing
the same fears about the Japanese media, as
calls grow for Tokyo 2020 to be cancelled amid
the coronavirus pandemic.
Japanese newspapers have been granted
unlimited use of the Olympic and Paralympic
logos and emblems since 2016. Staff writers at
the four major newspapers even have the logos
printed on their business cards, which state that
their newspaper is an official Games partner.

By becoming official partners and supporters, the newspapers hope to gain access totimely, comprehensive information on the
Games from the Tokyo 2020 organizers andthe International Olympic Committee (IOC).
In addition, each newspaper has certain
exclusive marketing rights – an arrangementthat should boost their circulation, pageviews
and advertising revenues as public enthusiasm
for the Games reaches fever pitch.
The coronavirus pandemic, however, hasturned these plans upside down. Instead ofriding the Olympic wave, newspapers are
struggling to confront the new, brutal reality ofTokyo 2020.
Despite polls showing that the vast majorityof the Japanese public opposes holding theGames this summer, the Asahi did not comeout against Tokyo 2020 until late May.
As the Number 1 Shimbun went to print,
the other dailies sponsoring the Olympics
were keeping their counsel. They include theYomiuri – traditionally a friend of the Liberal
Democratic Party – which conducted a poll inearly May in which 60% of respondents said
the Games should be called off.
Some accused the Asahi of hypocrisy,
pointing out that it had decided to stay on
as an Olympic sponsor even after runningan editorial that said holding the Games was“beyond reason”.
In response, Asahi officials insisted the news-INDEX07 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

WATCHDOG OR CHEERLEADER?

A former politicalreporter who
is now a senior
manager at the
Asahi told me:“There is almost
no enthusiasm
for bigging up theGames. Instead,
everyone is sitting
on the fence while
they wait for the
final word onwhether they will
be held or not.”paper would draw a line between its roles as an
official Olympic partner and a media organization with a duty to inform its readership. Speculation is now building over whether other liberal newspapers – namely the Mainichi and The
Hokkaido Shimbun – will follow the Asahi’s lead.
The Asahi and other newspapers continue
to cover the daily ins and outs of the Olympic
saga. Any negativity is largely confined to references to foreign media reports and editorials,
as well as letters from Japanese readers calling
for Tokyo 2020 to be scrapped or postponed asecond time.
As far as this writer can tell, Shimbun Akahata, the newspaper of the Japanese Communist
Party, and the regional dailies Shinano Mainichi Shimbun and Nishinippon Shimbun – noneof which is an Olympic sponsor – are the only
other newspapers to have run editorials callingfor cancellation.
Japanese broadcasters have acted with evenmore caution – none has called for cancellation.
One explanation is that broadcasters are inextricably linked to newspapers in a keiretsu-type
structure that includes personnel exchanges.
Nippon Television, for example, is affiliated with
the Yomiuri, and Fuji Television with the Sankei.
In addition, broadcasters have invested hugesums in the Games, based on the expectationthat Tokyo 2020 would continue the Olympic
tradition of attracting large audiences and profits. The Japan Consortium, a joint venture set up
by NHK and the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association, paid a staggering ¥66 billion to
the IOC for broadcasting rights to Pyeongchang2018 and Tokyo 2020 – nearly double the costof the two previous winter and summer Games.
Against that commercial backdrop, Japanese
broadcasters are focusing their pre-Games
coverage on promising athletes, tugging atviewers’ heart strings with stories of individualtriumphs over adversity rather than air criticism of the IOC or Olympic organizers. They aremindful, too, of the role Dentsu – a key Tokyo
2020 player – has in securing them lucrative
advertisements from Olympic sponsors.
News Post Seven, an online news magazine
published by Shogakukan, recently approached
six major Japanese newspapers and asked them
if they were for or against the Tokyo Games.

The Asahi, Nikkei, Sankei and Hokkaido newspapers declined to answer, according to News
Post Seven, while the Yomiuri said its editorials
had repeatedly stressed the need to host a “safeand secure” Games.
The Mainichi responded: “We think thesafety of athletes, staff and spectators must
be secured, and that the Games shouldn’t
negatively affect the medical system, which wealready mentioned in our May 1 editorial.”
News Post Seven was not impressed, dismissing the answers as “nothing special” and unworthy of being labelled as “editorial” stances.
What is the atmosphere like in newsrooms
now that the Tokyo Olympics are generating
endless controversy and speculation?
A former political reporter who is now asenior manager at the Asahi told me: “Thereis almost no enthusiasm for bigging up theGames. Instead, everyone is sitting on thefence while they wait for the final word onwhether they will be held or not.”A Yomiuri staff writer told me she was frustrated by the newspaper’s weasel-worded andevasive stance. “It looks like the Olympics will
go ahead, so people are holding in a lot of unfocused anger,” she said.
In contrast to sectors of the so-called traditional media, online operations such as News
Post Seven and HuffPost Japan are far morefearless and frequently carry articles critical of
the Olympics. It is fair to say that, on the whole,“new” media are doing a good job, as are fellow non-sponsors The Tokyo Shimbun and the
Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine.
With less than two months to go until the
opening ceremony, it remains to be seen if
Japan’s traditional media – with a few exceptions – continue to avoid showing their hand on
the wisdom of holding the world’s biggest sporting event in the middle of a global pandemic.
But failure to take a stand would not only
call into question their editorial independence – it would also leave a lasting stain on
Japanese journalism.
● Takahashi Kosuke is Tokyo correspondent forJanes Defence Weekly. He is former editor-in-chiefof HuffPost Japan and a former staff writer at The
Asahi Shimbun.

INDEX08 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

F E AT URE

A DOSE OF
DOCILITY
Japan’s media must takesome of the blame for thecountry’s achingly slow
Covid-19 vaccine rollout
RIKO MURANAKAOn December 21 last year, NHKnews ran the following reportabout a press conference given
by Dr. Hideki Hasegawa, thehead of the Influenza Virus Research Centerat the National Institute of Infectious Diseases. Hasegawa was discussing the European
Union’s approval the same day of a coronavirus vaccine. “Corona vaccines may possibly beeffective for short period,” the report said.” It
noted that adverse reactions could be reported
weeks or months after vaccination. “We must
carefully observe both safety and effectiveness,” the NHK story added, citing Hasegawa.
I wasn’t sure if Hasegawa had failed to mention the benefits of vaccines, or if NHK had notquoted him fully. While the overseas media
exploded with excitement and joy about theincredibly speedy development of a highly
effective vaccine, government experts andmedia outlets in Japan reacted with caution,and continue to do so.
According to surveys by Imperial College
London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI) in November 2020 and February
2021, Japan is one of the world’s least enthusiastic countries when it comes to coronavirus vaccines.
However, the Japanese people are not fundamentally anti-vaxxers. For example, thetake-up rate for the measles vaccine is 96%,and over 98% for BCG (used against tubercu-

losis). The rate for DPT=IPV – which prevents
diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus and polio – is nearly 100%. That is one of
the highest rates in the world, and higher thanmost European countries.
While Japan generally embraces vaccines,
it is cautious about the human papillomavirus(HPV) vaccine. The main reason why many Japanese appear skeptical about coronavirus vaccines is that they are unable to clearly identify
if the benefits outweigh the risks, particularlyas Japan has managed to avoid an explosive
Covid-19 outbreak through non-pharmaceutical measures.
In addition, the government and media are,unfortunately, vaccine hesitant. The World
Health Organization – which named vaccine
hesitancy as one of the top global threats tohealth in 2019 – defines the phenomenon asa reluctance or refusal to be given vaccines
despite their availability.
It isn’t unusual to encounter this reluctanceamong individuals, but the Japanese government’s approach to Covid-19 vaccinations is
unacceptable, particularly with the Tokyo 2020
Olympics scheduled to take place this summer.
It was obvious right from the start of the pandemic that the only way to ensure the Games
could be held safely would be to achieve herd
immunity and thereby make new outbreaks ofthe virus much less likely.
Why, then, did the government take so long

Riko Muranaka

The main reason
why many
Japanese appear
skeptical aboutcoronavirus
vaccines is thatthey are unable
to clearly identify
if the benefits
outweigh the risksINDEX09 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

A DOSE OF DOCILITY

The country’s
media, meanwhile,
continue tocelebrate their rolein “protecting”
ordinary people
during thehistorical lawsuits
against the
government. Thereis no criticism of
the governmentor government
experts over theirfailure to properly
promote Covid-19
vaccines.

to begin the vaccine rollout? And why did
Japan’s media fail to properly scrutinize thegovernment’s vaccine hesitancy and use theirinfluence to push for a quick, comprehensive
vaccination campaign?
The answer can be found in Japan’s historical,
political and legal relationship with vaccination.
Its post-war vaccination policies were set out
in the 1948 Immunization Act, enacted during
the US Occupation. The act made vaccination
obligatory, and was backed up by tough penalties for anyone who skipped the 12 mandatory
vaccinations. The law stated that inoculations
should be carried out at large venues, suchas school gymnasiums, and small clinics werebanned from administering vaccine doses.
Those stipulations contrasted dramaticallywith the arrangements in place for the coronavirus vaccine rollout.
The law was amended after successful lawsuits by people claiming to have suffered vaccination side effects began in the 1970s, helped
by a media campaign led by major newspapers
such as The Asahi Shimbun and The Mainichi
Shimbun. A 1992 supreme court ruling in support of a lawsuit concerning the smallpox vaccination – originally filed with the Otaru district
court in 1970 – was a turning point. One of thelawyers representing the plaintiffs in the Tokyo
portion of the lawsuit described the decision
as “epoch-making” as it recognised that the
government, as the body responsible for vaccinations, should be liable to pay damages. The
ruling meant it would be theoretically possible
for anyone to claim they had suffered side
effects from a state-sponsored vaccine andwin damages, irrespective of whether causality between the vaccine and the symptoms wasever established.
In 1992, the number of plaintiffs involved inclass-action lawsuits in Tokyo rose from 26 to
62. In echoes of the Otaru case, in all 62 cases, high courts reversed earlier district court
decisions that had favored the government.
The government decided not to appeal. Overtime, causality was established in just 15 of the
62 cases.
The Immunization Act was revised in 1994 asa result of the lawsuits. It stated that the purpose of vaccinations was no longer to protect
the country from epidemics, but to safeguard
the health of the individual. In addition, thegovernment no longer mandated vaccinations,but simply recommended them, and could only
become the target of legal action over injuriescaused by vaccines it had recommended. Thechange in wording is at the heart of the government’s attitude towards the coronavirus
vaccine: rather than encouraging people toprotect themselves against the virus before theOlympics, it is guided more by a fear of beingsued over adverse reactions to the vaccine.
On December 22, 2020, the day after Hasegawa’s press conference, Dr. Anthony Fauci,the director of the National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases in the US and chief
medical adviser to the president, received hiscoronavirus vaccine live on TV. “I feel extremely confident in the safety and the efficacy ofthis vaccine, and I want to encourage everyone
who has the opportunity to get vaccinated,” hesaid. His words were in stark contrast to Hasegawa’s message, which focused only on thetiny risks.
The fact that not a single vaccine expert sitson the government’s advisory committee for the
Covid-19 response is testimony to the vaccine
hesitancy that permeates Japanese officialdom.
The country’s media, meanwhile, continue
to celebrate their role in “protecting” ordinary
people during the historical lawsuits against
the government. There is no criticism of thegovernment or government experts over theirfailure to properly promote Covid-19 vaccines,
since that approach is the legacy of the lawsuits that the media had once so enthusiastically championed.
Ironically, some sections of the media
have belatedly started criticizing the government’s determination to hold the Olympics,
despite strong opposition from a public thathas also come to appreciate the value of
Covid-19 vaccines.
While newspapers and broadcasters will
never go as far as actively promoting vaccination, we should give a cautious welcome tosigns that the Japanese people do not appear
to need the media’s encouragement to protect
themselves against a deadly virus, howeverlate in the day.
● Riko Muranaka is a writer and physician, andformer member of the pandemic preparedness
and response team at the WHO Western PacificRegional Office. She is a lecturer at Kyoto
University’s Graduate School of Medicine.

INDEX10 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

F E AT URESCOOPMACHINE

PHOTOS BY DAVID MCNEILL

Manabu Shintani, executive director of
Shukan Bunshun, on the weekly magazine’s
potent brand of guerilla journalism
DAVID McNEILL

A

mong the more mortifying tidbits
to emerge from a rich banquet ofTokyo 2020 Olympic scandals thisyear was the proposal that a plussized Japanese actress descend from the sky
during the opening ceremony dressed as a pig.
Hiroshi Sasaki, the then creative director of theceremony, thought this would be a gas, dubbing his idea “Olympig”.
It’s unlikely that story from March – with its
jaw-dropping blend of tin-eared sexism andcreative constipation – would have seen thelight of day were it not for Shukan Bunshun. The
weekly magazine culled its scoop from hundreds of leaked Olympic documents, then coolly shrugged off a legal demand that it pulp the
published story and delete all online versions.

Under executive director Manabu Shintani,
Bunshun is the closest Japan has to the scrappy,
confrontational tabloid reporting that mercilessly hounds British politicians and celebrities.
The magazine’s journalistic firsts have madeit a must-read every Wednesday, when it fires
the latest online salvo from what has become
known as the 文春砲 – the Bunshun howitzer.
In February, the cannon was trained on Prime
Minister Yoshihide Suga. Bunshun revealed
that his son, Seigo, who works for a broadcasting business, had wined and dined communications ministry officials – the latest cronyism
claim to tar the government. Bunshun spent“months” chasing the story, recalls Shintani,the magazine’s former chief editor. “This work
is expensive, and risky.”INDEX11 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

SCOOP MACHINEDAVID MCNEILL“That’s a good reporter, from my point ofview…he played mahjong for about five hours
with Kurokawa. The problem is not publishing
an article afterwards. If it was my reporter, ofcourse I will allow him to go – but the following
week Bunshun would carry the story: ‘Exclusive confession of Attorney General Kurokawa
over five hours of mahjong.’“I would have asked him questions such as‘Do you really want to be prosecutor general?’‘Isn’t it impossible to extend your retirement
age?’ (Kurokawa was politically connected andwas widely seen as the government’s choicefor Japan’s top prosecutor; he had been in thenews for months since January when he wascontroversially allowed to remain in his post
despite exceeding mandatory retirement age).
That’s how you do it.”

Inconvenient truths“We are not in thepress clubs but
we have accessto all kinds ofinformation
gathered from our
Bunshun Leaks
source.”That makes Bunsun’s hit-rate all the morestriking. Though a relative publishing minnow,
with a weekly print-run of 500,000 copies (ofwhich about 300,000 typically sell), and a staff
of just 30-40 journalists (The Asahi Shimbun
has over 2,000 journalists and a daily circulation of over six million), it has become something of a giant killer.
The engine beneath the hood of this scoop
machine is Bunshun Leaks, a service that bringsin dozens of story tips a day from the public. As
the magazine’s reputation has grown, many people opt to tip off its editors rather than the mainstream media, politicians or even the police, outof fear that they will suppress the story.
Bunshun’s political scalps last year included Hiromu Kurokawa, the head of the Tokyo
High Public Prosecutors Office. The magazine
revealed that Kurokawa had played mahjong
for cash with two reporters from The Sankei
Shimbun and an ‘ex-reporter’ from The Asahi
Shimbun – while the rest of the city’s population was enduring emergency Covid-19 measures. The revelation ended Kurokawa’s career.
It also shed uncomfortable light on theaccess journalism practiced by Bunshun’s bigger rivals: the Asahi reporter had once beenin charge of covering the prosecutor’s beat.
Neither the Asahi nor the Sankei, from opposite ends of Japan’s political spectrum, saw fit
to tell their readers. Shintani says the result is
declining trust in the media, pointing out that
the Asahi was quick to disown its journalist.

Of course, Shintani says, Kurokawa may neverspeak to the reporter again. “But our job is not
to maintain relationships, it’s to tell the facts
to as many people as possible. It is importantfor everyone to be prepared to reveal what
they have to, even if means wrecking humanrelationships … you can't stop because you're
on good terms (with a politician). You can eat
sushi with Prime Minister Abe, or eat pancakeswith Prime Minister Suga. If you get along well,listen, and find out the truth even if it is inconvenient, and write it mercilessly.”That killer instinct drives Bunshun’s successes – and points to structural differences
between Japan’s elite media and the mass-circulation weekly press, which have no access(except via tips) to the press clubs that dominate dissemination of the news. While theclubs are regular targets of criticism, theweeklies and online media “have challenged
the daily papers’ dominance of political news
in recent years”, noted Freedom House, awatchdog, in 2017.
During the Fukushima crisis in 2011, forexample, while the big media endured tauntsof happyo hodo (press release journalism)
because of its perceived collusion with thenuclear village, Shukan Shincho angrily
dubbed the management of Tepco senpan(war criminals). Shukan Gendai outed themost culpable of Japans elite pro-nuclear
scientists, calling them goyo gakusha, (government lackeys).

INDEX12 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

SCOOP MACHINE“I’ve beensued countlesstimes. I’ve been
subpoenaed totestify four or fivetimes. It doesn’t
make me happy
but if you do thiswork it cannot
be helped. We’renot being sued fortelling lies.”

In 2017, Shukan Shincho published rape allegations against Shinzo Abe’s biographer, Noriyuki Yamaguchi, by the journalist Shiori Ito. The
story included the eleventh-hour suspension
of Yamaguchi’s arrest warrant at Narita International Airport allegedly by Itaru Nakamura, aformer political secretary to Suga.
But Bunshun leads the weekly pack. In January 2016, it speared economy minister Akira
Amari over bribery claims, forcing him to quit.
Shintani says his source went first to The Yomiuri
Shimbun – Japan’s largest newspaper. “He told
the story to a reporter from the paper’s social
affairs division but the reporter didn’t seeminterested and left without paying for his coffee. I don’t know how long it took but he finallycame to us.”
Shintani says Bunshun’s “guerrilla journalism” has clear advantages in such cases. “We’resmall but people trust us and feed us stories,”
he says. Bunshun has far fewer organizational
hurdles to clear than NHK or the Yomiuri, where
editors can spike a potentially risky story at any
point up the chain of command. “We are not in
the press clubs but we have access to all kindsof information gathered from our Bunshun
Leaks source.”“Reporters for the big media are salarymen,”he continues. “If they knew it was a scoop they’dgo after it but they don’t get it. It’s like havingmuscles you don’t use – when they atrophy,
they’re useless. I’m asked all the time why weget scoops. The simplest reason to answer thatis that we seriously go looking for them. We
have to.”Moritomo Gakuen eruption
Last year, Bunshun disinterred one of the mostnotorious scandals of Abe’s tenure when it
published a suicide letter by an official who had
been ordered to falsify finance ministry documents, apparently to protect Abe and his wife,
Akie Abe. The Moritomo scandal erupted in2017 when the firm that ran Moritomo Gakuen,
an ultra-nationalist kindergarten, bought a plotof public land in Osaka city for about 14% of its
value and began building a primary school topropagate rightwing ideas.
The school invoked the name of Abe whensoliciting donations. Akie Abe gave a speechat the kindergarten and was named honorary
head teacher. Shinzo Abe denied any involvement in the land sale and pledged to quit if any-

one could prove otherwise. Among the questions that linger was whether the decision by the
Kinki regional bureau to remove descriptions in
documents referring to Akie Abe were made by
an official there, or whether he received instructions from the prime minister’s office.
Liberal commentators praised Shintani forkeeping the story alive and taking the fight to
the Abe and Suga administrations. But he saysthat misses the point. “If you're really serious
about journalism right now, and if you're thinking about keeping it alive, you're saying, ‘How
can you can make money’, because investigative journalism is extremely expensive. It’s notsustainable unless the article makes money.”
The US media made a similar mistake during
the Trump era, he says, of putting ideology
before journalism. “If you report accurately andwell, and people support and trust you they’ll
buy your stories.” This point has become all themore relevant, he adds, as the circulation of
the print media collapses. The number of daily
newspapers sold every day in Japan has fallen
by more than 16 million since peaking at nearly
54 million in 1997. Circulation of the mass weeklies is down to a quarter of its peak in 1995.
Bunshun has helped monetize the Internet
by releasing its scoops on Wednesday, the day
before the print edition goes on sale. Its biggest stories sell up to 40,000 copies at ¥300
each - plus income from advertising. “Getting
money on the Internet means producing something you can only read there,” says Shintani. “It
has got to be your own investigative journalism
and your own scoop. Grasping that is the mostimportant thing right now.”
As for the risks, that’s part of the job too.
“I’ve been sued countless times. I’ve been subpoenaed to testify four or five times. It doesn’t
make me happy but if you do this work it cannot be helped. We’re not being sued for tellinglies.” In many cases, he says, politicians, theirsupporters or political colleagues, will screamthat a story is fake, threaten to sue, then quietly
drop it. “Then we all go back to work.”● David McNeill is professor of communications
and English at University of the Sacred Heart,Tokyo, and co-chair of the FCCJ’s Professional
Activities Committee. He was previously acorrespondent for The Independent, The Economist
and The Chronicle of Higher Education.
With thanks to Reiko Shiratori for transcribing the interview.

INDEX13 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

F E AT URE

THREE MENIN A PUBThe Trash Taste trio of (from left): Joey “The Anime Man” Bizinger, Garnt “Gigguk” Maneetapho and Connor “CDawgVA” Colquhoun

Trash Taste podcast turns anime fansinto Japan commentators
FRED VARCOE

T

rash Taste, a wild and often profane
weekly YouTube podcast by three
young Japan-based foreigners, averages around a million views eachweek. On top of that, the three hosts have theirown channels with a combined subscriberbase of around 8 million. Between them, their
videos have been viewed over a billion times.
It’s a reminder that people outside Japan can
get their information from non-established (orrecently established) media.
“We’re scared of being called journalists
because that requires responsibility and we
don’t want the responsibility of fact checking
and all that process,” says Welshman Con-nor “CDawgVA” Colquhoun, who at 24, is the“junior” member of the trio. “We always try toremind people we are just three guys talking as
if we’re down the pub and just chatting away,
but we try not to talk about things that we haveno knowledge about.”
Garnt “Gigguk” Maneetapho, the elder statesman at 31, says that they are more pundits
than journalists: “I wouldn’t call us journalists
because our main goal isn’t to report information. It’s more just our experience and ourthoughts and opinions.” But like the tabloids
or the quality broadsheets, YouTubers haveto tread a careful line between sensationalism
and the truth.

INDEX14 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

THREE MEN IN A PUB

From top: The Anime Man,
Gigguk and CDawgVA“One thing we can never get back if we lose itis the trust from our viewers,” says Colquhoun,
who speaks Welsh and studied mechanicalengineering at university. “The viewers are themost important thing and the bottom line for
us is that, as long as we don’t go burning ourbridges and we have the viewership on ourside, we’re fine.”

Their viewers are primarily in the United States,
the United Kingdom and other English-speaking
countries, so even when they do verge on insulting their hosts, it’s less likely to create problems.
“I feel if our audience was more Japanese
then we’d definitely be more worried about
stepping on anyone’s toes and offending
anyone,” says Japanese-Australian Joey “TheAnime Man” Bizinger. “Because we are an
English program, we don’t really have to worry
about offending the Japanese audience,” the26-year-old says. “I would compare it like if
Trash Taste is a radio show, then our videos arealmost like reality TV. I guess we have to be alittle over the top for the sake of entertainment,
but I feel our audience definitely appreciates
our honesty.”
The three have not only seen Japanese youth
culture expand into the great beyond, they havebeen part of that movement. Maneetapho has
been a YouTuber since 2006. All three recall getting bullied at school for their love of anime, but
the Internet gave them refuge from the haters.
“I think we’ve helped enable it because wewouldn’t have gotten as popular if there wasn’t
an increase in the audience and we, in turn,have helped popularize it to a newer generation,” says 31-year-old Maneetapho, an Englishman with Thai parents. “Now people are notgetting bullied for watching anime; they are
getting bullied for not watching anime.”
The Internet proved to be their salvation,
Bizinger says: “I think people from our generation who did get bullied watching anime andliking this kind of stuff went on to the Internet
and realized, ‘I won’t be bullied here. I can be
more open about my love for it.’ I feel that thisperpetuated the idea that it’s OK to like anime
and to talk about anime, and there are a lot of
people who enjoy it. Having that exist on theinternet has notified the newer generation theidea that anime is not a thing that losers watch.
It’s more of an open hobby and I think that
openness online has been reflected in real lifeand now kids don’t get bullied anymore.”
Joey easily gravitated to Japan as his
mother is Japanese, but that wasn’t the reason he ended up here. The Trash Taste trio
are represented by GeexPlus, a Tokyo-based
influencer management agency set up in
2019. GeexPlus is a subsidiary of Bookwalker,
which is in turn a subsidiary of major publisher Kadokawa.

INDEX15 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

THREE MEN IN A PUB

Cycling Across Japan

But while they have a major Japanese company behind them, they are not going to go outof their way to glamorize Japan.
“We don’t really want to sugar-coat anything in Japan,” Colquhoun says. “I think a
lot of YouTubers before were painting Japanthrough rose-tinted glasses and we just wantto talk about it as it is. Before I came to Japan,
I watched many YouTubers, but I can’t remember anyone actually talking about the frustrations of living in Japan. I never heard anyone
say nobody will sit next to you on the train if
you’re a foreigner.”
Maneetapho, who used to work for the BBC,agrees: “It’s 2021 and no matter where you are,you’re going to offend someone, somewhere.
The question is: one, how big of an audience isit that you’re offending; and, two, is it someone
who was going to watch your program anyway.
Most of the time our audience just wants a
no-bullshit view of living in Japan.”
So far, they have managed to steer clear ofmajor controversies, but viewers are quick
to point out any factual errors. Having critics
goes with the territory, Maneetapho says:“But I would say the most negative backlash I’ve ever got for anything I’ve said on
Trash Taste was to do with pizza crusts andnot any important social issue. I think thatreflects the real draw of us as personalities
and what Trash Taste is. People don’t watch

us for important social issues or to tackle bigpressing topics.”
Although the three were acquainted before
Maneetapho and Colquhoun landed in Japantwo years ago, Trash Taste has enabled themto look beyond videos about anime andmanga to producing YouTube specials on all
things Japan.
“Top Gear has been a big influence on thespecials,” Maneetapho says. “We don’t want tostop the three-mates-down-the-pub feel, but
we also want to have bigger more ambitious
projects as well and up our production values
more like TV production.” So far, they’ve produced three specials: Cycling Across Japan,
Tokyo Drifting and a Chess Tournament. The
first two specials have attracted nearly 2 million views each.
“I really think Trash Taste has helped us toindividually brand ourselves,” says Maneetapho. “We’re still quite big creators individually,
but Trash Taste has put a lot more eyes on us
as a group.” .
● Fred Varcoe is a British freelance journalist. He
was formerly sports editor of The Japan Times andMetropolis magazine, and has written on sports,
music, cars and other topics for The Daily Telegraph,
the Daily Mail, Billboard, Automobile Year, Reuters,
the Japan Football Association, the International
Volleyball Association and various websites.

INDEX16 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

OPINION

TIME TORETHINK THE
FCCJ’S STRUCTURE“F

oreign Correspondents In Japan,” the FCCJ’s
To this end, I believe that future Boards need to seriously
history of its first half century, is a rich resource consider downsizing our premises, perhaps in a cheaper locafilled with fascinating tales, memorable news con- tion, and to look at a more sustainable model. Very few jourferences and enjoyable portraits of the colorful nalists are here on the fat expat packages of years gone by.
characters who have served the club over the years. It is also Just look at the fees: A regular member pays around ¥13,000
useful as a way of reflecting on how our club has always faced a month (before any food or beverage purchases, and the
myriad problems, from fluctuating membership, contested relo- additional ¥1,500 recovery levy). That stacks up to at leastcations and financial crises, to feuds between correspondents ¥156,000 a year.
and gripes about the facilities or food.
Time is also a huge factor for any working journalist considerWhile the book ends in 1995 – and times have irreversibly ing joining the Board. In addition to monthly meetings that tendchanged, for better or worse – many of the issues that pre- to go on for three hours or more, there are committee meetings
vious Boards have faced have parallels
to attend, dozens of email messages thattoday. Now in our 76th year, it is timeneed actioning every day, plus phone
to reflect on our raison d’etre and how
calls and text messages. This is on top
“The
Club
needs
we can continue serving the corresponof busy day jobs – a reporter can neverdents who perform the vital role of covswitch off from the news – and family
to double down asering Japan and beyond from Tokyo.
commitments. I have been overstretcheda bastion for press
The pandemic has also given us
as vice president, but I shudder to think
freedomforboth
all more time to reflect on our lives,of the extra burden placed on presidents.
careers and families. Telecommuting has
Without a full-time, proactive (and ideforeign and Japanese
become the norm and is likely to stayally bilingual and bicultural) general manmedia and againthat way as people reassess the need toager to carry out the Board’s wishes andface the daily scrum of train rides into theeffectively delegate staff, future Board
become a home forcenter of the city. In many ways, the panmembers – both regular and associate –free speech.”demic has made things more convenient
will face similar strains. I understand thisfor reporters as it is now easy to tune into
comes with a price tag, but such a persona news conference or a webinar from theworking tirelessly for the club is a must.
comfort of home. Conversely, it has – at
Otherwise, we risk losing our identity as aleast in my experience – greatly increased the number of online haven for working journalists and will struggle to get competentmeetings, as well as messages from editors via email or a mul- Board members to steer our Club in a sensible direction as it
titude of apps.
moves toward its century.
Our location in the heart of Marunouchi is superb and we
If I’m still working as a journalist here in Tokyo in 2045, I’d beshould be able to attract more business people as associate proud to have been part of a Club that has contributed to themembers once we are through the current health crisis. But it is greater good of journalism and society for 100 years. But for now,
fanciful to think that we can greatly increase the number of cor- I cannot consider running for the Board again until there has
respondents in our ranks. Even if we somehow manage to get been a fundamental rethink of the way the Club is structured.
more influential speakers, we have to ask what we really offer
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I’m sure
to reporters. To this end, the Club needs to double down as a people have various ideas on how the Club should be run, andbastion for press freedom for both foreign and Japanese media these are just the views of a humble, soon-to-be former Boardand again become a home for free speech. Journalists don’t join member. It has been an honor to serve the FCCJ, and I hope to
the Club for the nice food or decor, they join to gain access to keep doing so in some capacity.
newsmakers, make contacts and converse with other membersof our profession.
● Andy Sharp is Deputy Politics and Economics Editor at the Nikkei AsiaINDEX17 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

OBITUARYICHIRO ‘KEN’
URUSHIBARA
CHARLES POMEROYL“A man of many
talents, hecontributed to
the Club as an
unpaid interpreterat professional
luncheons evenprior to joining as
an associate”

ong-time member of the FCCJ, Ichiro“Ken” Urushibara was hospitalized
on April 20, 2021, with liver cancer
and died on the 27th at the age of 90.
He was born in London on October 20, 1930,
the son of woodblock print artist Yoshijiro
Urushibara and his Japanese wife, who had
settled in the U.K. after participating in theJapan-British Exhibition of 1910 and created a
successful career there.
The onset of World War II forced the repatriation of the family to Japan in 1940. In 1950,
when he was 20 and faced with a nationality
choice, Ichiro opted for British citizenship,
making him a member of the Occupation
during its waning years.
Ichiro – or “Ken” as he was also known, takenfrom pseudonym Ken Tajima he used in radio
and TV assignments – joined the FCCJ in 1964.
A man of many talents, he contributed to theClub as an unpaid interpreter at professional
luncheons even prior to joining as an associate, as noted on page 98 of our history book,
Correspondents in Japan.
His name also appears on the front pageof the first issue of the Number 1 Shimbun,
published in September 1968, in the lead paragraph of an article about our inaugural ball: “…
had Don Shannon as master of ceremonies,
assisted by Ichiro Urushibara”. In recognitionof his contributions to the FCCJ, he was madea life member on July 1, 2011.
Based on his fluency in Japanese and English,
Ichiro’s career began as a translator during the
Occupation with the Civil Censorship Detachment. His activities eventually diversified into
interpretation in all its forms, radio DJ’ing as Ken
Tajima, emceeing at events, and announcing forsuch companies as Nippon Shortwave Broadcasting Co. and Radio Nippon. His interest in cars

also led to translation and editorial work for the
English-language Motor Magazine, interpretingat press conferences for Toyota and serving as
an announcer at Fuji Speedway for international
motorcar and motorcycle races.
Another highlight was Ichiro’s entry into the
diplomatic arena in 1968, when he served as
the master of ceremonies at British Week. This
was a joint initiative of the British Chamber ofCommerce in Japan and the British Embassyin Tokyo to present the UK’s history, technology, culture, sport, music, and fashion to theJapanese public.
In 1969, he provided live simultaneous interpretation of the Apollo 11 space mission forTokyo Broadcasting System, covering man’s
first steps on the moon, and following missions until Apollo 17 ended the moon landings
in 1972. This was followed by his noted role asinterpreter for Antonio Inoki when the Japanese boxer took on Muhammad Ali at Nippon
Budokan in Tokyo in 1976.

INDEX18 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

ICHIRO ‘KEN’ URUSHIBARA

PHOTOS COURTESY OF YUKO URUSHIBARA

From 1979 to 1997, Ichiro served as a simultaneous interpreter for the Japanese delegation
at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IU). This took
him to 51 countries, and during those trips hemet such famous people as Fidel Castro andPope John Paul II. He also served as interpreter
during the IU’s 100th anniversary celebrationin London, in 1989, attended by Margaret
Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth II. These assignments were perhaps his most challenging.
In his later years, prior to his full retirement,
Ichiro worked part-time at Aoba-Japan International School, putting together their monthly bilingual newsletter as well as interpretingand translating until 2010. This is describedin an article in The Japan Times that includes
many details of his long career.
Ichiro’s diverse bilingual roles took him tovarious government offices, such as Japan’s
National Diet and the U.S. Embassy. It wason an assignment to the latter that he met
the woman who became his wife, Yuko. Theirmarriage produced two beautiful daughters,
Saeko and Setsuko, and a grandson, Shun-ichi.
A man with many interesting stories to telland insightful comments to offer, Ichiro was
one person many of us looked forward tomeeting at the Club.
Rest in peace, Ichiro.
● Charles Pomeroy became a member of the
1

FCCJ in 1965, and has been a regular member

2since 1967. His edited history of the Club, Foreign
Correspondents in Japan (1998) provides definitive

3

4

1. Ichiro Urushibara with Muhammad Ali
2. Urushibara with Pope John Paul II
3. Urushibara with Fidel Castro
4. Urushibara at the FCCJ

detail on the Club’s founding years and tellinginsights on the Club’s fortunes during the Korean
and Vietnam wars, and all the years running up to
publication.

INDEX19 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

CLUB NEWSJ A P A N’ S
M E N T A L

The FCCJ’s Deep Dive series looks at the psychological toll
the pandemic is taking on women and young people
SUVENDRINI KIKUCHI

N

aoko, who has been married for 20
years, says the corona virus pandemic has made life unbearable.
“My husband is teleworking andour children are stuck in our tiny home. The situation is causing arguments and stress for everyone. And it’s taking a toll on my mental health,”
Naoko, 47, told me. Takashi Sato, who lost his job
as an assistant chef last September, tells a similar story. “When the restaurant closed due to thestate of emergency I lost hope,” Sato, 26, said.
“There are times when I’m so overwhelmed that
I think about killing myself.”

These stories typify the mental health crisis
gripping Japan more than a year into the pandemic. Experts say the cycle of soft lockdowns
and resulting economic losses has triggered asurge in cases of depression and suicide. Statistics show that women and young people aretaking their own lives in increasing numbers,
with the pandemic magnifying deep-seatedproblems such as the gender gap, community
breakdown and loneliness.
The May session of the FCCJ’s Deep Dive
series devoted two sessions to the complicated, timely subject of mental health in the age of

MILADA VIGEROVA - UNSPLASHH E A L T H
C R I S I SINDEX20 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

JAPAN’S MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS“Nobody is freefrom this trauma,
which can impact
up to 20% of the
population during
a disaster.”Covid-19. Fulfilling its mandate to look behindand beyond the news, the first session featured
three experts who talked about the mental
health risks facing Japan.
They presented medical data showing thatwhile a significant proportion of people who
recover from Covid-19 continue to suffer fromneurological symptoms such as headaches
and “brain fog,” people who have not fallen ill
with the virus have been struck by a range ofmental health problems.
“Nobody is free from this trauma, which can
impact up to 20% of the population during
a disaster,” said Vickie Skorji, director of theTokyo English Lifeline counseling service.
The National Police Agency reported 21,081
suicides in Japan last year, the first rise for a
decade. The figures showed a marked increasein suicides among women in their 20s and 40s.
Professor Haruka Sakamoto, a researcher
in the department of Health Policy and Management at Keio University, pointed out that
suicides among young people were at theirhighest since 1978. “Being stuck at home withno campus life places a huge strain on young
people whose purpose in going to college is
to make friends and enjoy life while they are
studying,” she said.
Japan has long grappled with high suicide
rates, and while the numbers dipped slightly inrecent years, the pandemic has caused a spikethat some link to job losses.
While men continue to comprise the largest
single group of people who commit suicide,the sharp rise among is women is alarming,
Sakamoto said.
In 2020, about 740,000 women became
unemployed. Many worked in sectors of theeconomy that have been hit hard by pandemic
restrictions. “Industries such as travel, catering and other services affected by Covid-19
employ female part-time workers who werelaid off,” Sakamoto said. “Unemployment, com-bined with the rise in teleworking, means more
women are stuck at home dealing with the lossof income, the burden of family care, and agreater risk of domestic violence.”
Citing a recent poll conducted by a Tokyobased women’s group, Skorji said 90% of
about 4,500 female respondents said theyenvied men because they led more financially secure lives. Disturbingly, just 5% of thosepolled said they would seek help for theirmental distress.
Sachi Nakajima, head of Resilience Safer, anonprofit providing trauma training to public
and private organizations, said the crisis inJapan had been exacerbated by social stigma
felt by people suffering from mental healthissues, and the lack of community support.
“Japanese society does not accept mental health problems as illnesses that require
treatment, but regards it as something to beignored,” she said. “This has only made theconsequences of Covid-19 worse.”
Nakajima said gender disparities in Japan
force women to take more responsibility forhousekeeping, childcare and looking after
elderly relatives. “Women frequently face abuse
and trauma, and the pandemic has made themfeel as if they are in a dark tunnel,” she said.
Skorji sounded an optimistic note towards
the end of the session, noting that technology
had enabled many people to stay connectedwith one another during the pandemic. The
same technology had helped young people
study remotely and stay in touch with friends.
“It has certainly helped during the pandemic,”
she said.
Sakamoto, however, said some had exploited
this connectivity to abuse people online. “Without proper support, this can leave people feeling even more anxious and isolated,” she said.
● Suvendrini Kakuchi is Tokyo correspondent for
University World News in the UK.

INDEX21 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

CLUB NEWSGO

FCCJ reaches out to the Kansai region
ERIC JOHNSTON

T

here’s no doubt the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan is aTokyo-centric club and always will
be. That’s entirely natural and should
never change. FCCJ started off as the “Tokyo
Foreign Correspondents Club” and is still calledthat by some members and guests.
But as working remotely is expected to
become, if not the new normal, then at least
more normal once the pandemic ends, more
people may decide they don’t need to be inTokyo to do their jobs. Some might see thisas bad news for attracting new members to a
Tokyo-based club. But it’s also an opportunity.
Outside Tokyo, the area with the largest
number of FCCJ members is the Kansai
region. Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, and Nara arehome to four regular members, seven professional associate members and 24 associate
members. You may not see them in the mainbar that often (if ever). But they are members
in good standing.
To their credit, some past FCCJ presidents
understand the importance of Kansai and traveled to Osaka and Kyoto to give individual lectures and presentations, Dan Sloan, Khaldon
Azhari, Catherine Makino and Lucy Birmingham among them. And on April 21, via Zoom,
President Isabel Reynolds, Second Vice-President Walter Sim, and Secretary Ilgin Yorulmaz
took part in the first-ever panel discussion of
FCCJ board members for 60 members andguests based in Kansai. I was honored to serve
as moderator.

PAUL CUOCO - UNPLASH

WESTINDEX22 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

GO WEST“For Kansai, it’svery importantto have a uniqueselling point to
get international
media attention.
Going forward, it’snecessary to lookat how trends inJapanese businessand society can be
explored from theKansai region.”

Participants included local freelance journalists, entrepreneurs, academics, diplomats, business leaders, artists and students. Reynolds,
Sim and Yorulmaz spoke about FCCJ and how
many foreign journalists like themselves see theregion. Reynolds noted there were two reasons
why Kansai could be more important to Tokyobased foreign journalists once the pandemic isover and they can travel more easily.
“We’ve heard a lot from the Japanese government about how the Olympics is going tobe the symbol of the human race overcoming
the coronavirus,” Reynolds said. “That’s turned
out to be ridiculously overoptimistic. But perhaps the 2025 Expo will take place at a timeand place where people are able to gather inperson. So maybe that could be when we’reable to celebrate.
“The second reason has to do with 2016,
Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. Many
media organizations based in the capital cities
or major urban areas were shocked at the Brexit vote and then Trump’s victory. They began torealize they were focused on the capital cities
and didn’t necessarily understand the rest of
the country as well as they should.
“Since then, there has been more of a focus
in many media organizations in different countries on areas outside the capital city.”
How to attract more foreign media attention
to the region has long been an issue of concern
for Kansai’s politicians, business leaders, andothers. One-time events like the 2019 G20 summit in Osaka or the 2025 World Expo are fine.
But to attract Tokyo-based correspondents ona regular basis, there needs to be a more basic
change in the local mindset.
Reynolds said: “Japan is a huge country, andeach region is culturally diverse. But there’s
also a sense of sameness of trends, like theelderly, declining population, that are common
to many regions. There’s a sense this kind ofnews can be covered from Tokyo. For Kansai,
it’s very important to have a unique selling
point to get international media attention.
Going forward, it’s necessary to look at how
trends in Japanese business and society canbe explored from the Kansai region.”
Unique aspects that can be turned into stories are the key to making a local story of interest to international editors and producers.
Yorulmaz gave examples of Kansai-related
stories BBC Turkish World Service editors liked.

“I was able to go to Osaka to do a storyon ‘Osaka First’ —the first things that Osaka
invented, such as Cup Noodles. Those uniqueaspects that we can turn into stories, as well as
the cultural aspects of society, are things I’mvery interested in,” she said.
Asked by participants what kinds of stories
would attract their attention and what kind ofpress releases from Kansai would actually beread by busy Tokyo foreign journalists, Simsuggested that a news peg connected to amajor issue like climate change could attract
media attention.
Yorulmaz added that those writing press
releases needed to think like journalists, readnews stories and use press releases to tell a story, rather than communicate basic information.
Participants also offered advice on what the
FCCJ could do to attract new members.
“The FCCJ could set up a new ‘Travel Associate Member’ category that aims to attract travel associations in prefectures, cities, towns andvillages,” said FCCJ associate member Sonoko
Suzuki, who is based in Kyoto.
Kyoto-based freelance journalist Felicity
Tillack encouraged the FCCJ to organize more
online events. “Online networking events andwebinars would be very valuable, and perhaps
FCCJ could consider a mentor program. Learning resources, like blogs and videos, and posting
job opportunities would also be useful,” she said.
There was support, too, for live events,
including gatherings of Kansai-based FCCJ
members when it is safe to do so, and there are
discussions about a possible trip to Kansai later
this year to attend such a gathering by members of the FCCJ board.
None of this is to say the incoming board’s
focus post-pandemic should be on signing up
more members from outside Tokyo. But more
events like the April Zoom seminar will enable
the Club to reach out beyond Tokyo at a time
when remote working and online seminars are
expected to be far more prevalent. That would
also be a relatively low-cost way of building anationwide list of contacts for current members, and perhaps gaining new ones we would
not have reached otherwise.
● Eric Johnston is the senior nationalcorrespondent for The Japan Times and a Kansaibased FCCJ member since 2000.
The views above reflect his own, not those of The Japan Times.

INDEX23 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

CLUB NEWSNew members
ASSOCIATE MEMBER
ATSUHIDE KATO joined Katoukichibee Shoten, a sake brewery, in Fukui Prefecture in
1976 and was appointed senior managing director three years later. In 2006, he was maderepresentative director of the company, a position he holds to this day.

ASSOCIATE MEMBERTOSHIRO UEYANAGI is a practicing attorney, admitted in Japan in 1983 and New York in
1992, and a partner at Tokyo Surugadai Law Offices. He serves as an executive committee
member of LAWASIA and is vice chair of the Kanto Federation of Bar Associations. He is
also a member of the doping panel of the International Swimming Federation. Ueyanagi
graduated from the University of Tokyo (LLB, LLM) and the University of Washington (LLM).
He was born in Kyoto.

ASSOCIATE MEMBER
TAKAHIRO YOSHIMOTO is president and chairperson of the board of trustees at
Nihon Bunka Gakuen Educational Foundation. He became chief accountant of Bunka
Girl’s High School in 1995; secretary general of the same school in 2006 and took up his
current post in 2013.

REGULAR MEMBERLISA DU is a reporter at Bloomberg News in Tokyo, where she writes about corporate Japan
with a focus on the consumer and healthcare sectors. She’s also reported extensively on Japan’s
legal system in the wake of Carlos Ghosn’s arrest and the country’s public health response to
Covid-19. Born in China, Lisa grew up in the U.S. and spent most of her time in North Carolina
and New York City before moving to Tokyo. She became interested in Japan when she was achild, and studied the language and country in school before transferring to Tokyo for work.
Lisa previously worked as a reporter at Business Insider and Newsday in New York. In her
spare time, she enjoys food (eating and cooking), running, a good podcast, and reading labelsof various consumer products. Lisa is a graduate of Duke University and Columbia University’s
School of International and Public Affairs.

New in the library1

2

Tokyo Junkie: 60 Yearsof Bright Lights and Back
Alleys … and Baseball

Cipangu, Golden
Cipangu: Essays inJapanese History

Robert Whiting
Stone Bridge Press
Gift from Robert Whiting

Michael Hoffman
Virtualbookworm.com
Publishing

3
Finding the Heart Sutra:
Guided by a Magician,and Art Collector, andBuddhist Sages from
Tibet to Japan
Alex Kerr
Allen Lane24 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

INDEXCLUB NEWS
Join the Film CommitteeO

n Monday, June 28 at 5:30 pm
for a sneak preview screening
of Yuya Ishii’s first Japan-Korea coproduction, The AsianAngel. Filmed entirely in South Korea, witha Japanese and Korean cast, the film follows
Takeshi (Sosuke Ikematsu), a widowed writer
who journeys to Seoul with his young son inolder brother, Toru (Joe Odagiri). But Toru’s
business goes south, Takeshi falls under thespell of a budding songstress (Korean star
Moon Choi), fate intervenes and soon, thethree find themselves on the road with three
Korean siblings who are also undergoing
personal crises. A delightful blend of the sen-timental and the comical, with a touch of themagical, The Asian Angel single-handedly
creates its own genre — the Asian Family Road Trip? — surmounting political, cultural and actual borders with aplomb. Ishii, returning to the
FCCJ for the third time since Our Family and The Vancouver Asahi, both in 2014, and Ikematsu will join us for the Q&A session. (The AsianAngel, Japan/Korea, 2021, 128 minutes, in Korean, Japanese and English with Japanese subtitles).
● Karen Severns©2021 THE ASIAN ANGEL FILM PARTNERS

the hopes of reconnecting with his estrangedINDEX25 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

EXHIBITIONOYAKO PHOTO
MATSURI
JUNE 5 - JULY 2, 2021T

he theme of the June exhibition is parents andchildren. A bond touches everyone, transcending
borders, cultures, and religions. Images in this show
are seen through the eyes of 26 photographers who
took photos in Argentina, Brunei, Cuba, Cambodia, Iran, Italy,
Japan, Mexico, Myanmar, Scotland, Syria, Tibet, and United States

Photographers
Ada Trillo (USA)

Hiroshi Nirei (Japan)

Ryan Treitel (USA)

Bruce Osborn (USA)Ira Block (USA)Samphos Sut (Cambodia)

Caro Ramirez (USA)

Kathya Maria Landeros (USA)Shingo Wakagi (Japan)

Constanza Portnoy (Argentina)

Lenka Klicperova (Czech Republic)

Steve Attardo (USA)Elahe Abdolahabadi (Iran)Mark Higashino (Japan)

Stirling Elmendorf (USA)Emi Nakamura (Japan)

Masafumi Iha (Japan)

Thadar Soe (Myanmar)

Eriko Koga (Japan)

Michael Yamashita (USA)Wusha Wuli (China)

Etsuko Enami (Japan)

Renato Grome (Italy)

Laetitia Vancon (France)

Hiko Miyao (Japan)

Ross Ericsson (USA)In addition to the photographers, I would like to express mygratitude for the grant from the Chiyoda Ward Cultural Support
Project along with support from the Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology, The Month of Photography and
the PSJ (Photographic Society of Japan), Sandra Saito and IWPA
(International Women in Photo Association),Yoshiko Inoue and
OYAKO Day Planning Committee● Bruce Osborn / FCCJ Exhibition Chair

26 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

EXHIBITION

0102

INDEX

Oyako photo matsuri: June 5 - July 2, 2021

Life Force: What Love Can Save
CONSTANZA PORTNOY (Argentina)
Buenos Aires, Argentina / March 4, 2017

At the End of the Day
LAETITIA VANCON (France)
Benbcula island, Scotland / July 2016

27 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

EXHIBITION

0304

INDEX

Oyako photo matsuri: June 5 - July 2, 2021

Tear Gassed
ADA TRILLO (USA)Frontera Hidalgo, Mexico / 2020

ISIS Wives - Queens of the Caliphate
LENKA KLICPEROVA (Czech Republic)
Ain Issa, Syria / 2018

28 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

EXHIBITION

0506

INDEX

Oyako photo matsuri: June 5 - July 2, 2021

Practice Session
IRA BLOCK (USA)
Pinar del Río, Cuba / 2014

Temple BellERIKO KOGA (Japan)
Kyoto, Japan / 2019

29 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

EXHIBITION

0708

INDEX

Oyako photo matsuri: June 5 - July 2, 2021

An instant of Time and Place
ELAHEH ABDOLAHABADI (Iran)
Isfahan, Iran / 2010

Prayers from Brunei
MICHAEL YAMASHITA (USA)Banda Seri Begawan, Brunei / 1993

INDEX30 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

EXHIBITION

09

Oyako photo matsuri: June 5 - July 2, 2021

Caring of Motherwith Dementia
KATHYA MARIA LANDEROS (USA)
Sacramento, CA, USA / 201510

Look to the children
for inspiration
CARO RAMIREZ (USA)Philadelphia, PA, USA / April 25, 2021

INDEX31 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

EXHIBITION

11

12

Oyako photo matsuri: June 5 - July 2, 2021

The Treitel Family
RYAN TREITEL (USA)
Wyndmoor, PA, USA / March 13, 2021

Father is the purveyor and the son cooks the food
MARK HIGASHINO (Japan)
New York, NY, USA / May 2021

32 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

EXHIBITION

13

14

INDEX

Oyako photo matsuri: June 5 - July 2, 2021

COWBOYSSTIRLING ELMENDORF (USA)Placerville, CA, USA / May 12, 2019

Parent and Child Sports DayETSUKO ENAMI (Japan)
Nagasaki, Japan / 1994

INDEX33 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

EXHIBITION

15

Oyako photo matsuri: June 5 - July 2, 2021

Mother and her Twin Sons (photo collage)
ROSS ERICSSON (USA)Philadelphia, PA, USA / April 23, 2021

16

Our little boy, safein his mom’s hands
STEVE ATTARDO (USA)New York, NY, USA

34 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

EXHIBITION

17

18

INDEX

Oyako photo matsuri: June 5 - July 2, 2021

The New Tokyoites
HIKO MIYAO (Japan)
Tokyo, Japan / 1987

Child helping parents to harvest yak
food
WUSHA WULI (China)
Tibet Autonomous Region / September 19, 2016

35 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

EXHIBITION

19

20

INDEX

Oyako photo matsuri: June 5 - July 2, 2021

WarmthEMI NAKAMURA (Japan)
Jigokudani, Nagano Prefecture / January 2021

Family Outing
SAMPHOS SUT (Cambodia)
Mekong Island, Cambodia / 2015

INDEX36 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

EXHIBITION

21

Oyako photo matsuri: June 5 - July 2, 2021

Haircut
SHINGO WAKAGI (Japan)
Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan / 2003

22

Roman Ruins
EYE TOTO (Italy)
Rome, Italy / 2019

37 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

EXHIBITION

23

24

INDEX

Oyako photo matsuri: June 5 - July 2, 2021

Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami
BRUCE OSBORN (USA)Soma, Fukushima / Japan June 9, 2011

Bedtime Story
HIROSHI NIREI (Japan)
Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan / 2001

INDEX38 | FCCJ | JUNE 2021

EXHIBITION

25

Oyako photo matsuri: June 5 - July 2, 2021

Save Myanmar
THANDER SOE ( Myanmar)
North Okklapa Township, Yangon, Myanmar / 2010

26

Stay safe with dreams
for the future
MASAFUMI IHA (Japan)
Tokai City, Aichi Prefecture,
Japan / Jan. 4, 2021

www.fccj.or.jp