The magazine of The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan

June 2017 Volume 49 No. 6, ¥400

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Dam nation:
Sarah Birke: the Economist
protest and projects
bureau chief profiled

Good Times: The JT
celebrates 120 years

Vol. 49, Number 6June 2017contact the editors

no.1shimbun@fccj.or.jp
Publisher FCCJ

Kansai and the
Kyoto Journal

In this issue
The Front Page
From the President by Khaldon AzhariCollections: Water control
From the archives: An advocate of economic reform

p12
4
5
5

Salute to the gaijin ghetto rats
by Bradley K. Martin

6

Rebellion in the valley of the fireflies
by Sonja Blaschke

8

ProfileSarah Birke
by Julian Ryall

10

The Kyoto classroom:
writers and the Kansai aesthetic
by Eric Johnston

12

The new Japan Times:
reborn at 120
by Gavin Blair
Club News
Exhibition: Being There…
A Retrospective Exhibition of Silver Halide Photography
by Michael E. J. Stanley
Join the Film Committee. . ./Special FCCJ programs havedeadlines this month/New Members/New in the library
FCCJ

JUNE 2017

FCCJ BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President Khaldon Azhari, PanOrient News
1st Vice President Anthony Rowley,Singapore Business Times
2nd Vice President Todd Crowell, Freelance
Secretary David Satterwhite, Associate Member
Treasurer Robert Whiting, Author, Freelance
Directors-at-Large Said Karlsson, TT News Agency
Milton Isa, Associate Member
Yuichi Otsuka, Associate MemberPeter Langan, Freelance
Ex-officio Suvendrini Kakuchi,
University World News
Kanji Yoshisuke Iinuma
Associate Kanji Makoto Honjo, Associate Member
FCCJ COMMITTEE CHAIRSAssociate Members Liaison Milton Isa,
Masanobu Tsukagoshi
Compliance Kunio Hamada
DeRoy Memorial Scholarship Abby Leonard,
David SatterwhiteEntertainment Sandra Mori, Suvendrini Kakuchi
Exhibition Bruce Osborn
Film Karen Severns
Finance Robert Whiting
Food & Beverage Robert Whiting,Robert Kirschenbaum
Freedom of Press Khaldon AzhariHouse & Property Khaldon Azhari
Human Resources Khaldon Azhari
Information Technology Khaldon Azhari
Library, Archives & Workroom Koichi Ishiyama,
Suvendrini Kakuchi
Membership Andrew Horvat, Peter O’Connor
Membership Marketing Rie Sakamoto
Professional Activities Andrew Sharp,
Tetsuo Jimbo
Public Relations Khaldon Azhari
Publications Gavin Blair, Dan Sloan
Special Projects Haruko Watanabe
Web Committee Khaldon Azari
Foreign Press in Japan Justin McCurry

14

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan
Yurakucho Denki Building, North Tower 20F,
1-7-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0006.
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 positionof Number 1 Shimbun, the editor or the Foreign
Correspondents’ Club of Japan.

16

Please pitch and send articles and photographs, oraddress comments to no.1shimbun@fccj.or.jp
Read the Number 1 Shimbun online:
fccj.or.jp/number-1-shimbun
Cover photo: courtesy of Tracy Dahlby.

3

MASUHIRO MACHIDA

Editor Gregory Starr
Art Director Andrew Pothecarywww.forbiddencolour.com
Editorial Assistants Naomichi Iwamura,
Photo Coordinator Akiko Miyake
Publications committee members
Gavin Blair, Freelance (co-chair),Dan Sloan, Nissan (co-chair);
Geoffrey Tudor, Orient Aviation;
John R. Harris, Automobile Magazine;Peter Langan, Asia Times; Yoichi Yabe, FreelanceFRONT PAGE

THE FCCJ'S "VOLUNTEER" SPIRIT IS
ALIVE AND WELL.
With the 2016-2017 FCCJ BOD year
winding to a close, I would like to extend
to the Club’s membership and particularly
From thedozens of volunteers my appreciation
President thefor their support and trust, and I hopethat the next administration carries on
the FCCJ’s soon-to-be 72-year journey
representing the free press in one of the world’s most important news
hubs: Tokyo, Japan.
When I was honored to become the FCCJ President last September,
I inherited a role leading the Club in one of its most trying periods. We
learned that the membership had never been informed of many details of
our contract with Mitsubishi Estate, our landlord, to move the Club to the
new Fuji Building, including tens of millions of yen in moving costs.
I did not want to be the bearer of bad news. But in the interest oftransparency and complete compliance with the Club’s bylaws on
financial matters, we met with the club’s lawyers and were advised to“revote” the move resolution, which we did. We had an open debate. And
we are now proceeding with the project.
In recent weeks, I met with Mitsubishi’s management, hoping to
get better terms. I believe it is still possible, because I assured thesenior executive I met that we we value our longterm relationship with
Mitsubishi. If the new BOD wishes to pursue those talks further, I haveinformed Mitsubishi’s management of the financial and operational
problems facing the Club.
For the time being, it’s up to the next BOD, hopefully, to continue thework of the current BOD, fixing and improving our operations. We are
currently negotiating with a new caterer, which should bring revenues
into the Club.
One immediate consequence – if I understand the terms being
negotiated – is that we will be able to hold more PAC luncheons because
under the agreement with the previous caterer we are losing money. We’ll
make money again on our Saturday Night Live program.
I want to thank the Food & Beverage committee. I want to thank the
Finance committee. I want to thank the Entertainment committee. I wantto thank PAC, the Publications and Special Projects committees. I wantto thank the Library & Work Room committee for our excellent “Book
Break” series. I want to thank the H&P committee and the “move” task
force, and Membership committee. I want to thank Brad Martin, who tooktime away from his writing projects, to serve as parliamentarian and now
Election Committee chair. My thanks also go to all other committees, all
let by volunteers, including the ad-hoc complience
I am aware that my list is incomplete, but let me just conclude by sayingthat I want to thank everyone who volunteered their time to make thisyear’s FCCJ successful. And last but not least, I want to thank our staff,
for years the one constant of the Club.
Let’s hope that the membership will be as active this June and electus a new BOD of qualified members to continue our mission until it isaccomplished.
Thank you all. It was an honor.
One postscript: with Publications committee, it is clear that“volunteerism” only goes so far. And perhaps that’s the way it should
be for a writer’s club. The committee advised me in no uncertain
terms that it wouldn’t be able to find writers without offering some
sort of compensation. To deal with the writer problem, and to give thehardworking members of the committee and the chairs, Gavin Blair and
Dan Sloan, the discretion to assign stories to Club Members, I have asked
that they come up with a formula that doesn’t contravene the bylaws,
which prohibit committee members from being compensated if they
write for the magazine.
I will take it as my personal responsibility to propose a bylaws
amendment if that is necessary in the coming BOD term.
No. 1 Shimbun marks its 49th birthday this autumn. Thank you all.
– Khaldon Azhari
4

FROM THE ARCHIVES

COLLECTIONSAN ADVOCATE OFECONOMIC REFORM

WATER CONTROL

650,000,
000,000

2,372
660,000

Largest total area in hectares ofreservoir, Uryudoentei

305
2,268
91

Largest total capacity in 1000m3
of reservoir: Tokuyama Dam

Major dams built before
end of Edo period

Annual precipitation in Japan in m3

78,400,000,000

Major dams in operation
prior to March, 2015

Dams scheduled for
operation after March, 2015

13,900Volume in 1000m3 of Japan’s
biggest dam: Niu Dam

kWh of power generated byhydropower (2007)

1,780

186

Height in meters of Japan’stallest dam: Kurobe Dam

367

Altitude in meters ofJapan’s highest dam:Oyachi Dam

Length in km of longest river inJapan: Shinano River

1952

1994
63

Years between Yanba Dam project
proposal and start of work due tolocal opposition (1952-2015)

2001
2015

Year that the last
natural river in Japan
without a dam had dam
construction begin:
Nagara River Estuary Dam

Year that Nagano
Governor Yasuo Tanaka
stated moratorium on
concrete dams due to“their heavy burden on
the environment”

JUNE 2017

FCCJ

8

Percentage of hydropower in total
Japan power generation (2007)

Sources: Japan Dam Foundation, Japan Times,
Japan Water Agency, Environmental Justice Atlas,
Local Environmental Movements
FCCJ

JUNE 2017

Haruo Maekawa, Governor of the Bank of Japan, reads from his
prepared notes at a professional luncheon on May 26, 1983. Seatedto his left is FCCJ President Karel van Wolferen (NRC Handelsblad),and to his right are a bearded Urban Lehner (Wall Street Journal)and Hamish McDonald (Sydney Morning Herald). Later tasked
by Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone with preparing a plan for
restructuring Japan’s economy to bring it more in line with its trading
partners in the West, Maekawa and members of his advisory groupannounced recommendations in 1986 that received positive reviews
overseas and negative criticisms in Japan. In his 1989 book, The
Enigma of Japanese Power, van Wolferen cited the restructuring
efforts of the Maekawa Commission as an example of Japanese
government paralysis, while later stating that Maekawa was not at
fault and remained highly respected.
Born in Tokyo in February of 1911, at the very end of the Meiji
Period, Haruo Maekawa witnessed in their entirety Japan’s
Taisho and Showa eras. After his graduation from Tokyo
Imperial University in 1935, he joined the Bank of Japan,
working in Italy, Germany, and New York as a specialist ininternational finance. In 1974 he was elevated to Deputy
Governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and then became its 24th
Governor in 1979. Of note was his work with Finance Minister
Noboru Takeshita in reaching a 1980 international agreementin which Japan received petrodollars from Saudi Arabia in
return for Japanese government bonds, as reported by our own
Junnosuke Ofusa of the New York Times.
Haruo Maekawa resigned as BOJ Governor in 1984 to becomechairman of an advisory group on economic restructuring. The
so-called “Maekawa Report” of 1986, calling for open markets
and expanding domestic demand, foundered for the most partin Japan because it was considered too radical. He retired thatyear and became Chairman of KDDI (Kokusai Denshin Denwa).
He died on Sept. 22, 1989, at the age of 78.
Karel van Wolferen now spends most of his time in the
Netherlands, where he is an emeritus professor, and writes
about geopolitical developments. Hamish McDonald and Urban
Lehner both continued their careers in journalism.

– Charles Pomeroy,
editor of Foreign Correspondents in Japan,
a history of the Club that is available at the front desk
5

FEATURE
CORRESPONDENTS

Salute to the gaijin ghetto rats
An alumnus of two of the news bureaus housedin the old Nikkei Building in the 1970s and ’80s
recalls fellow journalists who worked – andplayed – in its cramped quarters.
by BRADLEY K. MARTINT

he 1970s were a great time to be a correspondent assigned
to the Tokyo bureau. Readers, viewers, listeners andeditors throughout the industrialized world were turning their attention from the Vietnam War and its aftermath tobusiness competition, and that meant Japan. By the end of thedecade Harvard Professor Ezra Vogel could and did cast Japan
as Number One, and achieve bestseller ranking in the bargain.
How had the Japanese done it? Where were they headed next
with their overachieving economy? The world wanted to know.
News organizations that had done without Tokyo bureaus suddenly put them on their must-have lists. Quite a few of themfound space in a corner of the Nikkei
Building’s eighth floor.
One of the first was London’s Financial Times, which had operated a bureau
there in the 1960s with Henry ScottStokes as chief. That bureau had closed
in 1967. Six years later, as former bureau
chief Charles Smith recalls, the FT wasback in the Nikkei, reopening jointlywith the Economist.
The rush was on, and soon there was a critical mass, to thepoint where Nikkei tenants began proudly identifying themselves as Nikkei Gaijin Ghetto Rats. Among arrivals in theearly 1970s was the Baltimore Sun. In those days, the regional
newspaper serving Maryland maintained seven, sometimes
eight, foreign bureaus. The Sun bureau in New Delhi had
closed, and Tokyo became its replacement.
Hideko Takayama recalls that correspondent Tom Pepper tried repeatedly to hire her as news assistant. But Pepper
operated out of his home. That seemed to her a recipe for mixing up news and household errands, so she repeatedly turned
him down. One day “he called me and said, ‘Now you can startworking for the Sun. I found our office at Nikkei.’” Takayama
reported from there until 1980, when the Sun moved its bureau
back to New Delhi in the (futile) hope of managing up-close
reporting of the war in nearby Afghanistan. She later became acorrespondent for Newsweek and Bloomberg.
Quite a few other news organizations like the Sun (which
now has zero foreign bureaus) looked for Tokyo office spaceand found it in the Nikkei Building – and, later, closed theirbureaus as hard times came to the Japan story and the news
business. The list includes Hong Kong’s late, lamented Far
Eastern Economic Review, New York’s Journal of Commerce, theFairfax papers (Sydney Morning Herald, Melbourne Age, Australian Financial Review) and the Globe and Mail of Toronto.

contented times happened at about 4 p.m. for two weeks, six
times a year, when Bill Emmott of the Economist emerged
from the adjacent cubicle to watch the sumo tournaments on
my office TV. It was a quasi-religious and certainly culturalexperience, enhanced by puffing on foul-smelling Wilhelm II
Dutch cigarillos.”Martin adds: “There was an immortal ChiyonofujiWakashimazu battle lasting over two minutes, won by
Wakashimazu, that left cigar ash everywhere and the Suntory
Old bottle half-empty. Of course, all this happened at a time of
the London day when none of our nominal masters had eventurned up to work. Anyway, the pieces I wrote on sumo and highschool baseball earned far more kudos than anything on Komatsu tractors, so our times in front of the box were well spent.”
The building had a certain entertainment value, especiallyduring earthquakes. Charles Smith, who after his FT stint
worked there as bureau chief for FEER, recalls “standing at
our window one day and watching the Mitsubishi ResearchInstitute rocking gently, like a cargo ship tied to its berth.”
His FEER colleague Robert Delfs adds that at such times “theNikkei Building itself was boogieing back and forth, too. One
time it dumped all my books off the bookshelves and onto thefloor. I gather the amplitude of movement was exaggerated by the use of
joints, which were intended to allow thebuilding to sway, releasing stress.”
There were office romances, someleading to wedding bells. And often,
after work, Nikkei denizens would repair
to either the Club’s correspondent tables
or a beer hall closer to the office. On
weekends people liked to go to Roppongi, particularly to Kento’s – a 1950s-themed live rock ‘n’ rollnightspot. Kento’s is still there, according to Gwen Robinson,
ex-FT and now Nikkei Asian Review editor in Bangkok, “fullof genteel obasan getting their rocks off.” That establishment
may end up being a scheduled stop for a group of Nikkei
Ghetto alumni gathering in Tokyo for an early July reunion.
Besides the FT and the Economist, papers that managed tomaintain their Tokyo presence up to now – even though theold Nikkei Building itself is long gone – include Düsseldorf’s
Handelsblatt and the Wall Street Journal.

“It was a quasireligious experience,enhanced by puffing
on foul-smellingcigarillos.”

THE NIKKEI CROWD WAS a merry band, often partying together – sometimes in the office. Jurek Martin, who was FT bureau
chief and the 1985-86 FCCJ president, recalls that his “most6

IN 1976, MIKE “BUCK” Tharp and Masayoshi “Chief” Kanabayashi (Tharp likes nicknames) shifted Journal operations from asingle desk in the AP office to a real bureau in the Nikkei corner.
“To move in,” recalls 1989-90 FCCJ president Tharp, “we traveled the byways of old Tokyo, buying used furniture – desks,
lamps, a couch and two stiff chairs for visitors, filing cabinets.”
Eduardo Lachica and Billy Schwartz moved in around thesame time to open a bureau for the Journal’s sister regional
daily startup, the Asian Wall Street Journal. Prime space was all
taken by then, so they drew a tiny windowless alcove – which
they had to share with the paper’s business-side people. With
appropriate Tokyo office space so hard to come by, the two
scribes didn’t complain as they cranked out enough stories tofill half their paper.
Lachica’s productivity earned him a nickname borrowed
from a famous pool player of an earlier generation, “FastEddie.” Only after he finally left Tokyo for Washington (sentoff with a rolling party, a beer-soaked bus tour to the potJUNE 2017

FCCJ

“Ghetto” life

Right, front row, Rumiko Kobayashi(the Sydney Morning Herald), Ryoko
Fukutake (Wall Street Journal),
Hideko Takayama (the Baltimore Sun);second row, Masayoshi Kanabayashi(WSJ), John Slee (SMH), Mike Tharp(WSJ), Doug Ramsey (the Economist),
Tracy Dahlby (Far Eastern Economic
Review). Below left, the author meets
P.M. Takeo Fukuda while company
Chairman Gary Black looks on.
Below right, Eddie Lachica (Asian WallStreet Journal), honorary member ofthe gaijin ghetto Geoff Tudor (JAL),
Mike Tharp (WSJ), the author, Tracy
Dahlby, the late Richard Hanson (FT),and Charles Smith (FT) at whose
wedding this was.

tery town of Mashiko), washe deservedly able to slow
down a bit and play somegolf. Talented reporters
who also worked in the
AWSJ bureau in its earlyyears included Norman
Thorpe – who stayed only
a year before opening the
AWSJ’s office in Seoul – andJohn Marcom.
Thebuilding
hadn’tbeen constructed for luxury. Rooms were generally
small and simply outfitted. They often filled with toxic smoke
due to correspondents’ habit of keeping tobacco products
burning in their ashtrays while hunching over typewriters topound out copy. The health authorities never showed up to
put a stop to that.
One semiretired correspondent, asking not to be named forfear of offending Nikkei, recalls that his office “was a shithole.” Nikkei probably wouldn’t disagree. After all, the company tore the building down and replaced it. But that didn’t
happen until the 21st century – by which time several generations of correspondents had developed the ability to empathize with Japanese salarymen and OLs based on personal
exposure to equivalent working conditions.
THE GENERAL SCHEME IN the Nikkei Ghetto was typified by
the FEER bureau, where Susumu Awanohara, Kazumi Miyazawa and Tracy Dahlby (one of the then-rare breed of Americancorrespondents trained in Japanese), joined later by the lateJohn Lewis after Awanohara’s move to Jakarta, squeezed into
a room suitable for one or two.
People came and went, some working in the Ghetto for multiple publications over the years. After turning over the WSJ
bureau to Urban Lehner when he left in 1980, Tharp returned ayear later for a second tour in the building as FEER bureau chief.
Regardless of that continuity, new trends appeared – forexample, a developing industry emphasis on correspondents’language abilities. The AWSJ in the early ’80s hired Chris
FCCJ

JUNE 2017

Chipello, who had learned Japanese as a Princeton student.
Around that same time the Japan-raised MK (that’s an abbreviation for missionary kid) Steve Yoder started in the AWSJ
bureau as part-time interpreter, blowing away interviewees
with his native Tohoku accent. The first story Yoder reported and wrote on his own, an in-depth piece on the Japanesecompany Seiko, so impressed AWSJ management that he got
promoted on the spot to correspondent.
Eventually the AWSJ staff was merged into a combined Journal staff. Lehner, back for a second tour in charge of the wholeshebang, was the most devoted and accomplished student,
ever, of Toshiko Oguchi, who taught Japanese in the office togenerations of Journal correspondents. Lehner presided overan expansion that brought the number of journalists to 10 –still including Kanabayashi, Chipello and Yoder, and with theaddition of such future stars as Marcus Brauchli.
“A lot of American businessmen had decided for the firsttime that they needed to understand Japan,” Lehner recalls.
“My editors were eager to run not just my business and economics and trade coverage but my neophyte discoveries ofJapan and the Japanese. I knew I was on to something whenthe edit page ran a review I wrote of a kabuki play. Alas,
America’s curiosity about Japan didn’t last long.” ❶Bradley Martin was a Nikkei ghetto rat as Baltimore Sun bureau chief,
1977-80, and again as Asian Wall Street Journal bureau chief, 1983-86.
His novel Nuclear Blues is due out shortly

7

FEATURE
CIVIL PROTEST

In a small village in southern Japan, a dam project has been dividing the local
community for over five decades. Most residents have left, but a few households
continue the fight against the dam – and they’ve been successful so far.
by SONJA BLASCHKEO

n a Monday morning in June two years ago, a dozen
women gathered in front of a construction site in
Koharu Valley in Nagasaki Prefecture. The atmosphere
was tense. They hid their faces behind scarves, masks andunder wide-brimmed hats with fly nets, and wore long, blue
jackets from the local firefly festival to demonstrate theirunity. They held signs reading: “We are against the dam” or“Stop forced expropriation.” They had been protesting there
almost every single day for several months. What was at stake
were their very homes.
Cars pulled up. Several men in work overalls, rubber bootsand helmets got out and walked towards the small crowd,
which huddled close together. Some of the men worked fora local construction firm, some were Nagasaki prefectural
staff. For over 50 years now, the prefectural governmenthas been trying to build a huge dam – 234 meters wide and55 meters tall. When completed, the Ishiki Dam would leave
what is now the small Kobaru community submerged deep
under countless cubic meters of lake water. Disappearing
with the town would be its pristine natural surroundings, thehabitat of several endemic species, say the protesters.
Yet, even after all this time, the dam is far from completion;even the foundations have yet to be laid. All that’s visible area few barriers and some construction machines. The prefecture recently revised the completion date from March 2017
to March 2022.
Though the officials and construction company managers kept appealing to the women to let the workers pass, theprotesters remained silent. “If we start talking, we only getworked up,” Sumiko Iwashita explained later. The women feltthat any discussion would lead to offers of compensation, butlittle in the way of a real exchange of opinions.
THE AUTHORITIES CONSIDER THE dam necessary to prevent
flooding of the nearby Kawatana River and to supply water
to the city of Sasebo, located about 40 minutes from Kobaru
by car. Some decades ago, the city had experienced a water
shortage and had to ration water for a while. However, Kobaru
residents find reports about a supposed lack of water in Sasebo exaggerated. They argue that actual water use has been

8

ALL PHOTOS: SONJA BLASCHKE

Rebellion in thevalley of the fireflies

dropping with the introduction of new technology, and a predicted rise in population in Sasebo has failed to materialize.
The dam opponents suspect some influence from Tokyo: theLiberal Democratic Party, which has dominated the country
for decades, traditionally falls back on infrastructure projects to boost the economy.
Two years on, the protesters have refused to let themselves
be intimidated. They are aware that once they give in, the
60 residents that remain in 13 of what were once close to 70
households will have to leave their hometown forever, thereby abandoning land which, in some cases, their ancestors
have inhabited for generations. Six days a week, from morning to evening, the women, flanked by non-resident supporters, continue to block access to the site. Most of them are
retirees. It once was the men, the household heads, who led
the protest, but they were charged with obstruction of construction. If they actively take part in the protest, they can be
fined, an activist explained. That was another reason why the
women did not want to reveal their identity while protesting.
“There are not so many of us, so we cannot take turns. That
is why we bring our lunches and some water, rain coats andumbrellas,” Iwashita explained. The youthful 66-year-old is
one of 60 people who after decades of fighting against thedam continue to live in Kobaru. With her husband and one ofher sons she lives in a big house set a little above the fields. “Ilove nature,” she said with a smile. “Birds always sing here.”
People who drive through Kobaru can see big signs reflecting
the residents’ attitude on the roadside: “If your hometown
was going to disappear – how would you feel?”
OFFICIALS FROM NAGASAKI PREFECTURE insist they havedone much to garner the understanding of the residents.
In fact, construction work was paused for 30 years until, in
2009, the authorities decided to make use of the expropriation law, a highly unusual step. Generally, authorities try to“convince” people affected by a construction project, if necessary with pressure – and money, as dam opponents believe.
The protesters took their case to court, but in December
2016 their suit to stop construction was dismissed. Only a
few weeks later, on an early Sunday morning in January – theJUNE 2017

FCCJ

only day of the week on which
rent one would be submerged.
women did not gather – workSome of his fields were alreadyers brought heavy machinery to
expropriated on paper, but hethe construction site. Since then,continued to plant rice on themconfrontations along the site
anyway. The former public serfence have been resumed withvant considers the expropriarenewed vigour. At the sametion a violation of the Japanesetime, authorities have kept pushConstitution, which guarantees
ing expropriation efforts: for thethe right to life, freedom and“If we start talking, we only get worked up”
past three years, a commission
pursuit of happiness.
Clockwise from top left: Isamu Ishimaru; Isshin Taguchi;
has been working on assessing
But there are those who have
Sumiko Iwashita; Shinya Kawahara.
the value of the remaining resiacceptedthegovernment’s
dents’ land to determine complans and moved out. Over thepensation payments.
past decades, more than 50
Despite the image of the prohouseholds have given up andtesters as being of advanced
left. A new housing estate forage, there are also many young
those who left the valley stands
people living in Kobaru. One
in nearby Kawatana, the villageman, 43-year-old Shinya Kawaof 14,000 people of which Kobahara, dressed in a striped T-shirt
ru is a part. Although it’s only aand beige pants, sat in the local
few kilometers down the road,community house, its walls
the emotional distance is enordecorated with black-and-white
mous; the people who moved
photos from protests, handwrithere from Kobaru, especiallyten posters and banners fromthe elderly generation in theirsupporters from all over Japan.
sixties, do not speak with their
Born and raised in Kobaru, Kawahara, a shift worker at a local
former neighbors anymore. Both sides feel betrayed.
ceramic parts factory, said he could not imagine living elseWhile there is some support from outside the valley, it seems
where. He loved playing with his teenage daughters at thethat most of their immediate neighbors do not feel like getriver, observing fireflies in early summer, watching birds orting involved in the struggle. The family of Isshin Taguchi hascollecting bugs. “This is the only home we have. I think it isbeen living in Kawatana village, downstream from the dam
natural for us to want to protect it.”and therefore unaffected by the project, for over a hundred
He was witness to an event that marked the beginning ofyears. In fact, the unaffiliated, conservative local politician
this long-running battle of wills. He was 11 in 1982, whenand former ministerial bureaucrat who heads up the dam
he watched officials come to the valley to measure the land
construction committee argues that the dam is important asin preparation for the dam, accompanied by riot police. Hea measure to prevent floods. In the nineties, part of Kawatana
saw policemen lifting grandmothers who were sitting on thewas severely damaged by flooding after strong rainfall. “I amground and hauling them away. Crying children were carried
not exactly eager for the dam to be built – but it is just necesoff or thrown to the side, he remembered. Kawahara himself
sary,” he says. Nagasaki Prefecture emphasizes that the Ishiki
tried to punch a policeman in the stomach, but the man was
Dam would protect the area from severe floods that occur withwearing a metal plate under his shirt.
a statistical frequency of once in a hundred years.
Despite all of the setbacks the Kobaru residents try to stay
THE REMAINING RESIDENTS POINT to the brutal police operapositive. What encourages them is that the authorities stilltion in 1982 as the reason they lost trust in the prefectural
have not managed to move the project visibly forward. In fact,administration. In fact, the authority itself acknowledges
there are many major construction projects throughout thethat the incident inflicted “deep wounds to the hearts of thecountry, from dams to nuclear power plants, which have been
residents,” and the governor at the time attempted to makestalled or prevented by local resistance. There was also theamends by sending apology letters and trying to meet withlocal resistance to the Arase Dam in Kumamoto Prefecture
Kobaru residents.
that led to its being completely torn down, in the only such
However, four kanji – 面会拒否 – on a sign at the door ofcase in Japan. Thanks to young, dedicated residents like Shinya Kawahara, who feel called to continue the protest, there
66-year-old Isamu Ishimaru’s house are a token of the failure
seems to be little chance of the resistance in Kobaru fading.
of those attempts of reconciliation. They read menkai kyohi or
At the protest site, the soft-spoken yet feisty Iwashita“refusal to meet,” and they refer to his deep disappointment
revealed how she managed to keep her balance and persevere
in politicians, including the former governor, who broke histhrough the exhausting fight: She did not think ahead much,promise not to build the dam if just one person was against it.
she said. To relax she likes to rip out weeds in her garden. She
Although Ishimaru only arrived in 1978 from the nearby
emphasized that the women tried to keep up their good spirAmakusa islands with his parents, he considers the little
its by enjoying delicious food and by laughing together a lot,
Kobaru Valley home. “This is where traditional Japanese soci“because you cannot fight if you are depressed.”
ety still remains intact,” he said. Ishimaru walked slowly on
Kawahara, the local-born ceramic maker employee, said hea small road leading up to his house where he lives with his
suppressed thoughts about the fact that he might have to movewife and daughter, gazing across the light-green rice fields.
away some day. “I will get old in Kobaru,” he stated decisively. ❶Dragonflies were flitting through the air. Between the rice
plants one could hear frogs croak.
Sonja Blaschke is a freelance East Asia and Australasia correspondent
Ishimaru talked about his defiance while pointing to a small
for German print media and a TV producer. She divides her timestreet skirting some of his rice fields. That would be where thebetween Japan and Australia.
new main road would to go through, he explained, as the curFCCJ

JUNE 2017

9

SERIESPROFILE

Sarah Birke
by JULIAN RYALL

Sarah Birke became an “accidental war correspondent”
in Syria after the Arab Spring broke, covering herself
in a hijab when travelling to towns that are now synonymous with death and appalling destruction. After several
years of that, Tokyo is a welcome – if extreme – change, shesays, with the challenges of working as a journalist here of avery different kind.
Appointed the Tokyo bureau chief of the Economist in thesummer of 2016, 35-year-old Birke is presently on maternity
leave after the birth of her daughter, Elena, but has a long
list of stories that she intends to follow-up on as soon as she
returns to work.
After growing up in Essex, on the eastern outskirts of London, Birke earned a place studying English law with Italian
law at Oxford University on a course that included a year in
the Tuscan city of Siena. “I didn’t intend to practice law afterwards; the real attraction was the year abroad,” she confesses.
While the aversion to the legal profession was not enough to put her off
a Masters in the subject at university
in Florence, contributions to student
publications at Oxford convinced herthat journalism was a more attractive
career path. “Back in the UK, I did
the usual internships to gain experience,” she said. “Some were great, likethe New Statesman, where I could dosome proper, worthwhile journalism.
“Others were less so,” she added. “Iquit Tatler after a week because I was
asked to do things like research the
top doctors in London you’d use if you
had a zillion pounds.”

said. “He was extremely supportive – as he was to all young
journalists – and said I should go, but that I would probably
never get anything in the paper again because no one wasinterested.”
By late 2010, Birke was again getting itchy feet and wasconsidering moving on when the Arab Spring engulfed Tunisia and quickly spread to Libya, Egypt, Yemen and beyond.
“Nobody in Syria thought it could happen there,” she said.
“The Wall Street Journal interviewed President Bashar AlAssad in January of 2011 and he boasted that it would notaffect Syria. But by March, there were big street protests. I
decided not to leave – because I feared I would not be able toget back in again.”
Birke spent the following five months reporting on thegrowing conflict. “I was working quietly so nobody would
know that I was writing about the situation – and the Economist was perfect as it does not have by-lines,” she said. “Atprotests, people took risks to help me
because they wanted the world to see
what was really going on. There was ahuge amount of anger in a populationthat has been so repressed.”

ANDREW POTHECARY“After several years
it took a toll . . . I had
in effect become
an accidental war
correspondent.”

10

JUNE 2017

FCCJ

FORCED TO LEAVE WHEN her visa ran
out, Birke moved to Lebanon. Offereda staff contract in 2013, she moved to
Egypt and began covering the entire
Middle East, eventually becoming thebureau chief for the region. “It was afascinating region to cover at a fascinating time,” she said. “But after several years it took a toll. There was a lotof travelling and I had in effect become
an accidental war correspondent.”
By 2016, she was ready to move on
BIRKE STARTED FREELANCE SHIFTS on
and admits to agitating for a change
the Times in London in 2006, workof scenery during visits to the Econoing on the politics desk and attendmist’s offices in London. A visit toing Prime Minister’s Questions in theJapan in 2013 inspired her to takeHouse of Commons. She also worked
Japanese classes in Lebanon. (Birkeon the books and arts desk, as well as
speaks, to varying degrees, no fewer
obituaries, but had her heart set on
than six foreign languages.)foreign reporting.
“In many ways it is harder to work
Birke had already been studying
in Japan,” she said. “In the Middle
Arabic in evening classes, and her
East, there are no data, unlike here,
Syrian tutor suggested that she visit
but people are more accessible andher homeland of Syria. On her firstwilling to talk. Here, I spend a lot ofvisit in 2006, she discovered that thetime faxing requests and submitting
formal Arabic she had learned hadquestions in advance just to get perlimited value in talking to people, but
mission for interviews – and then I
she was able to travel to some of theoften get set answers.
most far-flung corners of the country.
“It is also hard as an outsider to get under the surface here,
After returning, she was chafing back in London. Birkeand that is a constant challenge,” she added. “But there is abegan looking for a way to return to the country, and in 2008
great mix of stories: politics, quirky stuff, social issues and, of
took a job with the UN, reporting on the progress of its projcourse, the economics. The Economist is interested in Japan,
ects in Syria. The role also permitted her to learn Syrian Aramore so than many other papers, but also because the trends
bic and to do some freelance writing, including for the Times.
here, such as the falling and aging“Richard Beeston was the foreign ediJulian Ryall is Japan correspondent for
population, will affect other nations
tor at that point and I asked for his
the Daily Telegraph.
in the future.” ❶advice about moving to Syria,” she

FCCJJUNE 201711

FEATURE
LOCAL JOURNALISM
Journal-ism

Nagoya that autumn (disclaimer:
I contributed to the issue).
Like so many of its magazinebrethren around the world who
faced financial crunches in theinternet age, Kyoto Journal wasforced to go entirely online in an
attempt to save money after the
Biodiversity issue. However, someprint versions are now scheduled
to return later this year.
But it remains a place to go to for journalists, writers andaspirants. Founding Editor John Einarsen says that one big
difference is that Kyoto Journal is all-volunteer and not “professional” like Tokyo’s media, where a writer’s qualifications
and educational background often play a role as to whether
an editor considers a submission. “We are a platform whereanyone can share their creative work” he says, “but we want
to feature those who are genuinely into their subject.”
He sees that approach as offering more opportunity foryoung writers in particular. “I don’t think we have a bias.
We don’t say, for example, ‘Oh, this person graduated from
Columbia Journalism School.’ If their work has heart and you
can see it, then it doesn’t matter if they’re beginners or professionals,” he says.
Kyoto Journal celebrated
its 30th anniversary
recently with an exhibitionof its photos, and talks
by Founding Editor John
Einarsen and other editors
and photographers.
Photo courtesy of
Masuhiro Machida

The Kyoto classroom:
writers and the Kansai aesthetic
Though few in number, Kansai’s writers andjournalists reflect a different perspective thantheir Tokyo-based counterparts.

F

bloggers, essayists and journalists, includor virtually all Japan-based foreignby ERIC JOHNSTON
ing some with freelance experience withjournalists, Tokyo is home base. Natmajor international media. Guest speakers
urally, their views of Japanese polihave included Karl van Wolferen and Robert Whiting, as welltics, economics, and society tend to draw heavily on Tokyoas local Kyoto-based writers who talk about covering the city
based sources. Thus, unconsciously or not, this “Tokyo view”
as guidebook writers, but also as amateur social anthropoloof Japan, with all of its advantages and limitations, becomesgists – which is one definition of being a journalist.
the lens through which they – and their readers – see Japanas a whole.
THE CENTER FOR KYOTO writing and journalistic efforts,
Kansai is the only region that has a sizable foreign comthough, has long been Kyoto Journal. The all-volunteer publimunity of writers, photographers, and video documentarcation is now celebrating its 30th anniversary, and while Kyoians capable of providing the outside world with a moderate
to Journal is widely admired for its photography and graphic
amount of non-Tokyo-biased foreign journalism regarding
design, it has also long served as a laboratory of sorts for all
Japan. Compared to the professionals in FCCJ, however, muchtypes of writers, often producing excellent magazine journalof the work of Kansai-based journalists is not the kind of hard
ism by any standard.
news that editors and producers overseas want for their daily
That approach has resulted in an eclectic history of faspapers, websites or TV stations.
cinating themes and articles. A 1991 issue entitled “Kyoto
Kyoto has long been the center for Kansai-based foreignSpeaks,” a collection of long interviews with 58 Kyoto resiers writing about Japan – and not just the Noh-Kabuki-tea
dents, ranging from a street vendor to a member of Japan’s
ceremony-geisha aspects of traditional Japan that Kyoto
old aristocracy, remains one of the finest collections of Engembodies. Those remain key subjects, of course. But writers
lish-language journalism on the Japanese people – as opposed
and photographers in Kyoto also use the discipline needed toto Japanese political events, social developments, technologipractice such traditional arts, and the observations gained
cal advancements or cultural trends – to ever appear.
from doing so, in their approach to tackling broader themes
A 1995 issue, called “Word,” traced the history and developrelated to Japan, Asia and the world.
ment of words and languages. A 2001 issue, “Media in Asia,”
While there is no equivalent to the FCCJ in Kyoto, in 2015,
included an interview with Richard Lloyd Parry of the Times.
a group called “Writers in Kyoto” was formed by author John
And, in September 2010, Kyoto Journal produced an issue on
Dougill, whose book In Search of Japan’s Hidden Christians wasbiodiversity that had several pieces on Japan’s practice ofreportedly read by Martin Scorsese as he prepared to film
satoyama. The magazine was distributed to delegates at the
Shusaku Endo’s Silence.
United Nations Conference on Biodiversity, which met in
Its members include a wide variety of Kyoto-based writers,

12

JUNE 2017

FCCJ

KYOTO JOURNAL HAS A reputation for being ultra-liberal,though a careful reading of their articles over the years actually allows one to make an argument that they are “conservative” in the sense that many writers advocate or pay respect
to the conservation or preservation of traditional culturesand lifestyles.
But even if one applies the admittedly outdated tag of “liberal,” Associate Editor Susan Pavloska asks what’s wrong with
that? “The word ‘liberal’ has become an insult in the U.S.,” shesays. “But what’s wrong with being in favor of freedom? We
have never felt the need to publish a line along the lines of‘the views of this piece do not necessarily represent the viewsof Kyoto Journal.’”The focus of Kyoto Journal has also expanded far beyond
Kyoto, so that many of its articles today are about the larger
Asian region. Managing Editor Ken Rodgers describes the ideal submission: “Welook for value that goes beyond style or
technical skill,” he says. “Genuineness, acommitment to engagement with society and culture. Writing from the heart.
And, of course, a connection – preferably first-hand – with Asia.”
Japan’s travel boom over the past few years has benefitted
Kyoto, and Associate Editor Lucinda Cowing says the boom has
worked in Kyoto Journal’s favor in some ways, but not in others.
“People see the name and think that we are a travel magazine
dedicated entirely to the city. On occasion, they even send inmessages on Facebook asking for restaurant recommendations, or express disappointment on posts shared about China,
or another Asian country, on the grounds that they followed us
purely because they want content about Kyoto.”
All of the publication’s editors admit that there has beenpressure from various quarters to drop the word “Kyoto”
from the name. But as an established brand name, they feelno need. Japanese firms who have advertised with Kyoto Journal on various social media platforms have been happy withthe results, Cowing says.
John Ashburne, a Kyoto-based freelancer who has written for
the Wall Street Journal and Forbes, and is now editor of Foodies

Go Local, a website focusing on Japan’s local cuisine and culinary traditions, says being located in Kyoto means different
things to different kinds of editors. “Overseas editors tend to
fall into two categories, those who know Japan and those who
consider all of Asia pretty much one amorphous blob,” Ashburne says. “Naturally, the latter don’t care too much about mylocation, until I suggest they’ll need to foot up around US$300
to get myself up to Tokyo and back. That’s when they develop
an awareness of Japanese geography.”
Ashburne says that Japan-literate editors are also split into
two camps. “They either assume I am a journalistic bumpkin,
as nothing newsworthy happens west of Hachioji, or I must bea wise and wizened old sage who meditates daily, eats only tofu
and can thus only produce stories about Buddhism, food, andanything likely to not offend. Being Kyoto-based channels you
towards cultural commentary whether you like it or not.”He believes Kyoto teaches patience. “In any journalistic
context relationships need to be cultivated,” Ashburne says.
“But down here such matters are taken to a new level. Ancientconnectivity and ancient traditions generate a strong conservatism that is hard to ‘breach’ with an investigative mindset.
Getting information is tough. Processing it is harder. Thus,
the ability to wait, sit out situations, listen and take time isessential. Share a cup of tea. Again. And again and again.”
SO, IS THERE A “Kyoto School of Foreign Writing and Journalism About Japan?” Yes and no. Career-wise, those in Kyoto whowrite for publications do so on either a volunteer or a parttime basis, relying – like many FCCJ freelancers – on non-journalism gigs to pay the bills. Nobody in Kyoto, as far as I know,
is working full-time for a major overseas media organization
covering general Japan news, with the possible exception of aJapanese local hire who once introduced himself as the “Kyoto
correspondent” for China’s Xinhua News Agency.
Intellectually, though, one of the most original works of“journalism” about Japan to come out in book form over the
past three decades was 2001’s Dogs and Demons, by Kyoto-based
Alex Kerr. A long-term resident, Kerr wrote about the political,
social and aesthetic corruption of Japan in the late 20th century, and the physical devastation that resulted. He wrote fromthe viewpoint of someone with a strong aesthetic sense honedin Kyoto, in an informed and deeply passionate way that no Tokyo-based foreign hack has ever managed to match.
Kerr’s works, along with Kyoto Journal’s philosophy, form the basis of ajournalistic approach that is arguably
a more aesthetic, historical, and intellectual approach to observing modern
Japan, especially its people, than one finds in Tokyo. It is notnecessarily an “anti-Tokyo” approach. Unlike Osaka, where
disdaining Tokyo is a public sport, Kyoto residents, foreign
and Japanese, often appreciate the capital city’s charms andenergy, though many would prefer to remain in Kyoto if they
could. For those seeking an international journalism career
who want to get paid on a full-time (or even a more than halftime) basis, Tokyo remains virtually the only real option.
So perhaps “school” is really the most appropriate word
to describe Kyoto’s foreign journalism scene. Most if not all
Kyoto “students” eventually graduate and move on, but neverquite forget the lessons and approach to Japan, and to life,
learned in the Kyoto classroom. ❶“We look for valuethat goes beyond styleor technical skill”

FCCJ

JUNE 2017

Eric Johnston is a staff writer with the Japan Times. The opinions
expressed within are his own and not necessarily those of thenewspaper.
13NEWSPAPERS
Japan’s largest English-language daily has made some big moves to stay relevant – and visually inviting.

The new Japan Times: reborn at 120

by GAVIN BLAIR
IN THE 12 DECADES since the Japan
more than a little to the contemporary
Times was launched, a multitude ofTimes of London, according to Daimon.
English-language newspapers have
The paper went through a series ofcome and gone, many absorbed byname changes, including one forced
the JT before the turn of the 20th
by the government to Nippon Times
century. In more recent years, thein 1943. “Although we were allowed
print editions of the Asahi Shimbun
to keep on publishing, there wasand Mainichi’s English editions havecensorship during the war and a push
fallen by the wayside. The Japan News,against English; even in baseball, terms
the reincarnation of the Daily Yomiuri,
like ‘strike’ were banned,” says Daimon.
survives, but now consists almost
The post-war period, however,entirely of articles translated from thesaw a burst in interest in the paper.
Yomiuri Shimbun.
“The paper sold like hotcakes when
Not content toGeneral MacArthur
rest on its last-mancame because
standing laurels,
there were so manyand to better cope
Americans here.
with the shift to the
And we had a lot ofdigital news age, theadvertisers because
JT recently underwent
they knew MacArthur
its first major revamp
was reading it,”in three decades,
explains Daimon.
to coincide with its
120th anniversary.
FAST FORWARD TO
The paper changed its
2013, when the JT
logo, font and layout,
was in the process
as well as increasedof linking up withuse of photographs
the New York Timesand graphics, for its
internationalrelaunch on April 1.
edition, then still theTop; letters from the history
The JT was the first
International Heraldof the masthead. Above, theEnglish-language
Tribune. Because therelaunch issue.
newspaper in Japan to
NYT publishes six
be founded by Japanese personnel anddays a week, the JT had an opportunity
financing. Among the founding group
to experiment with a new format andwere Yukichi Fukuzawa, he of thedesigns on Sunday, according to art¥10,000 note fame, and Sueji Yamada,director Andrew Lee. The result wasa former secretary of Hirobumi Ito,
the tabloid-sized Japan Times on Sunday
Japan’s first prime minister of modern
and the stimulus for the complete
times and a key figure in establishingoverhaul of the daily edition that took
the Meiji Constitution. “The samurai
place in April.
era had just finished, and one of the“We changed almost everything
aims was to show the real Japan toapart from the size. We shifted fromthe world,” says Sayuri Daimon, theeight columns to six per page; wider
newspaper’s managing director.
columns are better for longer reads,”
The JT’s early look, with advertisingsays Lee. “People are more likely
concentrated on the front page, owed
to read longer articles in print. But
14

we’re different in that we have a lotof readers whose first language isn’t
English, and they like to have shorter
reads too.”
The new font is Berlingske Serif
Text Light, designed for the Danish
daily Berlingske, while Serif Black isused for the new all lower case-logo,with its distinctive red dot on the first
letter of japan. How the lower case jt
logo looked online was a crucial factor,
says Lee, as the publication aims toboost its digital imprint. Moving themasthead to the left side of the paper
is designed to make it easier to find in
newsstands. “On the first day of therelaunch I rushed down to the konbiniand I could literally see it from outside;
so I thought ‘that works,’” says Lee.
The print edition now has acirculation of around 45,000,
produced by 30 writers, many of whom
also have other roles at the paper, as
well as a broad roster of freelancers.
Although the JT has adopted a “webfirst” policy, “Print is the face of thepaper,” says Daimon. “Sales jumpsignificantly after big events suchas the U.S. presidential election orwhen Obama came to Hiroshima. Soeven though there is a shift to online,
people do still like to read about the
big events in print.”
Daimon cites the incident lastsummer when a father left his son by
the side of the road in Hokkaido as apunishment as the kind of reportingthat sets the JT apart from both theJapanese and international media. “It
was reported as if he was abandoned.
People overseas wouldn’t leave theirchild on the street in the mountains.
But given the safety level in Japan,
parents sometimes do that,” she says.
“You needed to explain that. We try togive details about cultural background,so we’re often more informative.
Japanese papers often don’t give muchbackground.”“In the era of fake news, I thinkpeople are longing for trustworthy
reporting. As long as we are based onreal reporting, I think readers won’t
leave us,” says Daimon. “Anybody candispatch information. The difference isreal journalism and reporting – and weneed to continue doing this.” ❶Step up
See aheadStand outAward-winning, bilingual, content-creationand communication agency.

Gavin Blair covers Japanese business,
society and culture for publications in the
U.S., Asia and Europe.
JUNE 2017

FCCJ

Contact us: unique@custom-media.com | www.custom-media.com | www.bij.tv

FCCJ

JUNE 201715

CLUB NEWSCLUB NEWSSPECIAL FCCJ PROGRAMS HAVE DEADLINES THIS MONTHFCCJ EXHIBITION

The deadline for nominations to the 2017 FCCJ“Freedom of the Press Awards” falls on June 9 this year. The
Awards are held to confer due recognition to journalists whose
work represents the finest in defense of free speech, an open
society and democratic accountability, with a particular focus on
issues connected with the Japanese experience.
There are three categories. The Japan Investigative JournalismAwards are awarded annually for works on a Japan-related
topic brought to light by diligent investigation. The Lifetime
Achievement Award is given to a journalist or individual based inJapan who has dedicated their life to promoting freedom or thepress. And candidates for Supporters of the Free Press can include
individuals campaigning for freedom of the press.
Winners will be announced in mid-June.

June also sees the deadline for entries for the FCCJ’s
2017 Swadesh deRoy Scholarships on the 16th of themonth. This program was created in honor of a respectedlong-time journalist member to encourage and supports
students interested in a career in journalism. Any current
undergraduate, graduate student or young professional
who graduated within the last two years in Japan, or any
Japanese student enrolled in an overseas journalism
program, is eligible to apply.
There are three categories: Pen Prize, Photo Prize andVideo Prize, each worth ¥300,000 to the winner.
More details on both of these programs can be seen on
the FCCJ website, www.fccj.or.jp

JOIN THE FILM COMMITTEE . . .
. . . at 6:45 on Tuesday, June 20 for a sneak preview ofShinichi Nishitani’s Marriage, starring heartthrob Dean
Fujioka, who will join the director for the Q&A session
after the screening. The long-awaited adaptation of thebestselling novel by Areno Inoue, the film thrusts us into the
middle of a marriage hustler’s latest scam, and forces us towatch as he fleeces a bevy of lovely lonely hearts without
flinching. Nishitani cleverly casts the swooningly handsome
Dean Fujioka as Kenji Urumi, the conman with a dark
secret in his past, opening the door to a more sympathetic
appraisal. Kenji is not a hero, far from it – he separates his
victims from their savings accounts, after all — but he’s also
not quite a villain, not even in the eyes of his victims . . .
or even his devoted wife.
(Japan, 2017; 118 minutes; Japanese with English subtitles.)– Karen Severns

Being There… A Retrospective Exhibition of Silver-Halide Photography

by Michael E. J. Stanley

IT SEEMS LIKE ONLY yesterday . . . but I arrived in Japan 38 years ago, thinking I might work
here for a while. It was the right place at the right time: the economy was booming and I
found there was a demand for my photographic skills. Editorial clients – among them mostof the major Japanese magazine publishers – offered me assignments in places I had only
dreamed about visiting. It is from those assignments and other projects both here in Japanand overseas that the images displayed in this exhibition are drawn. Of course, these are
only a tiny fraction of what I shot over a span of almost four decades. A greater variety –both in the number of images and in the variety of topical “genres” – can be found on my
website, www.mejstanley.com.
All these photographs were shot in analog format using 35mm monochrome negative
or color reversal film, something rare in this world of instant, digital imagery. A lot haschanged in recent years, and the analog world is fading away. Film with a silver halidebased emulsion is in danger of joining the ranks of the bygone, along with wet-plate glass
negatives and tintypes.
I hope visitors will take a moment to view the photos on display, enjoy a taste of theatmosphere of the places they were shot and experience a sense of “being there.” ❶16Michael E. J. Stanley was bornin Santa Monica, California. He
began studying photography
under the tutelage of his
father, cinematographer FrankW. Stanley A.S.C. In 1979, hearrived in Japan and started
working with a variety ofJapanese periodicals – Brutus,
Sports Graphic Number,
Bungei Shunju and Mainichi
Graph were among his clients.
In the 1990s, he first shot
documentary video and in1998 he started teaching,first at Tama and then Meiji
University.

JUNE 2017

FCCJ

YOUR ADIN OUR PAGES
Advertize in
Number 1 Shimbun
Contact
no.1shimbun@fccj.or.jp

FCCJ

JUNE 201717

CLUB NEWS

New
Members

REGULAR MEMBERS

KEIKO SHIROKAWA is a producer for ZDF German Television. She
began her career in the 1970s with work on a documentary film
entitled Bastards on the Border, about the struggles of minorities
living in the U.S. at the time of the bicentennial celebration. In theearly 1980s, she filmed Palestinians at Beaufort Castle in southern
Lebanon fighting against the borders drawn by the Europeans
after WWI. In the 1990s, while working in London, she watched as
European countries appeared to be trying to weaken the function of
their own borders. She later worked as the chief of communications
for Greenpeace Japan, until returning to television work after the
Tohoku disaster of 3/11.
HIROO WATANABE became foreign news editor at the Sankei
Shimbun in 2016. He joined the paper in 1989, after graduating from
Keio University. During his first few years as a reporter, he covered
criminal cases and Japan’s defense policy. In the following years,
he reported from Cambodia, Rwanda and Congo. He attended
University College Dublin and received a master’s degree in
economic science in 1996. He has since held posts in Japan andoverseas, including as Washington correspondent from 2006.
He returned to Tokyo in 2011, as a deputy foreign editor, and laterassumed the position of Yokohama Bureau Chief. Before his current
position, he worked as a deputy editor since 2015.

PROFESSIONAL/
JOURNALIST ASSOCIATE
MEMBERS
Naoki Nakamura, Kaiji
Press Co., Ltd.
Akiko Yagi, Phonics Inc.
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Ethan Chua, Embassy of
the Republic of Singapore
Frederic Chelmsford,
TVT Japan K.K.
Allan Smith, RGA
Reinsurance Company
Julio Arias, Delegation of
the European Union

Masaki Enomoto, Bank ofTokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.
Tatsuki Hioka, Tokyo
Family Court
Hisato Imura, Keiso
Shobo Publishing Co., Ltd.
Shinji Ishikawa,
Ritsumeikan University
Satoshi Kanazawa, TEC
Air Service Corporation
Isao Kaneko, Brown
Brothers Harriman
Securities (Japan) Inc.
Akira Kimura, Japan
Foreign Trade Council, Inc.

Toshiyuki Kamada,
Sagami Chain Co., Ltd.
Takaharu Mitsui, Avoplus
Japan, Inc.
Tsutomu Minoura,
MTI Ltd.
Akihiro Miyashita,
Ritsumeikan University
Kazuko Mukai, Wayo
Women's University
Tomitada Nakazawa,
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking
Corporation
Hisashi Osone, TEC Air
Service Corporation

Masahito Sakurazawa,
Projet Co., Ltd.
Yoshihiro Shinagawa, Miki
Shoko Co., Ltd.
Norio Takeda, Yakumo
Sangyo Co., Ltd.
Koji Uenaka, Horizon
Co., Ltd.
REINSTATEMENT(ASSOCIATE)
Yasuo Yoshitome

The magazine of The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan

June 2017 Volume 49 No. 6, ¥400

reminisces
Bradley Martin, camaraderie,on correspondents
ei building
ers in the old Nikk
and cramped quartTORY
WRITING, HISPITCH US YOUR STORY

and support your Club magazine
Please send your story ideas to no.1shimbun@fccj.or.jp, and be
sure to note whether you have (or have access to) visuals.
Our rates are ¥20 per published word, ¥20,000 for a front
cover photo. Photo essays: ¥15,000 for full-page photos and¥5,000 for smaller shots. All payments will be made in credit
to your member account.

Dam nation:
Sarah Birke: the Economist
protest and projects
bureau chief profiled

18

Good Times: The JT
celebrates 120 years

New in the
Library

Daitoa senso wa nihon
ga katta: eikokujin
janarisuto henri sutokusu
ga kataru “sekaishi nonaka no nihon”
Henry Scott Stokes;
Hiroyuki Fujita (trans. andcomp.)
Heart Shuppan
Gift from Hiroyuki Fujita
A Kim Jong-Il Production:
The Extraordinary True
Story of a Kidnapped
Filmmaker, His Star
Actress, and a Young
Dictator's Rise to PowerPaul Fischer
Flatiron Books

The Spy Across the Table:
A Jim Brodie Thriller
Barry Lancet
Simon & Schuster
Gift from Barry Lancet
A Selection of Poetical
Works: My Tears Flow
Endlessly: Forced Out ofHouse and Home by the
Fukushima Nuclear Power
Accident
Chikara Kojima; Setsuko
Noda (trans.)
Nishida Shoten Publishing
Gift from Nishida Shoten
Carmen Blacker, Scholarof Japanese Religion,
Myth, and Folklore:
Writings and Reflections
Hugh Cortazzi (ed.);James McMullen andMary-Grace Browning(ed.)
Renaissance Books
Gift from Renaissance
Books
Nihon ga hatashitajinruishi ni kagayaku
daikakumei: “hakujin no
wakusei” kara “jinshu
byodo no wakusei” eHenry Scott Stokes;
Takahiko Ueda
JiyushaGift from Hiroyuki Fujita

The Social Life of Kimono:Japanese Fashion Past
and Present
Sheila Cliffe
Bloomsbury Academic
The Fascist Effect: Japanand Italy, 1915–1952
Reto Hofmann
Cornell University Press

Curse on This Country:
The Rebellious Army ofImperial Japan
Danny Orbach
Cornell University Press
Second-Best Justice:
The Virtues of Japanese
Private Law
J. Mark Ramseyer
The University of Chicago
Press
Kokkai binran (141
edition)Shuhari Initiative

JUNE 2017

FCCJ

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