The magazine of The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan

September 2016, Volume 48 No. 9, ¥400

J
C
C
F
E
TH
?
e
v
o
m
Cool

What now for
the Panama
Papers?

Profiled
Hans Greimel ofAutomotive NewsVol. 48, Number 9

September 2016

contact the editors

no.1shimbun@fccj.or.jp
Publisher FCCJ
Editor Gregory Starr
Art Director Andrew Pothecarywww.forbiddencolour.com
Editorial Assistants Naomichi Iwamura,Tyler Rothmar
Photo Coordinator Akiko Miyake
Publications committee members
Gavin Blair, Freelance (Chair); Geoffrey Tudor,
Orient Aviation; Monzurul Huq, Prothom Alo;
Julian Ryall, Daily Telegraph; John R. Harris,
Automobile Magazine

How Masukomi
Sushi could
look after the
FCCJ moves

In this issue
The Front Page
From the President by Peter Langan
Collections: Disability in Japan
From the archives: Ted Kennedy (“Lion of the
Senate”) visits Hiroshima

p6
4
4
5

The proposed plan for the
new home of the FCCJ
by Peter Langan

6

ProfileHans Greimel
by Julian Ryall

12

Whatever happened to the Panama Papers?
by Gavin Blair
Club News
Exhibition: FantaSea
by Sachi Murai
Special Campaign offer/Join the Film Committee. . ./Heard at the Club/New Members/New in the Library

14

16
17

Correction: In the article, “The State vs. the Japanese Press,” in the June 2016 issue,
UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression David Kaye was incorrectly
identified as a “senior UN official.” The Special Rapporteur is not a UN official, but an
independent expert appointed by the Human Rights Council.
FCCJ

SEPT 2016

FCCJ BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President Peter Langan, Freelance
1st Vice President Khaldon Azhari,
PanOrient News
2nd Vice President Todd Crowell, Freelance
Secretary David Satterwhite, Associate Member
Treasurer Robert Whiting, Author, Freelance
Directors-at-Large Said Karlsson, TT News Agency
Anthony Rowley, Singapore Business Times
Milton Isa, Associate Member
Yuichi Otsuka, Associate Member
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 TBA
Entertainment 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 Peter Langan
Human Resources Khaldon Azhari
Information Technology Said Karlsson
Library, Archives & Workroom Koichi Ishiyama
Membership Andrew Horvat, Peter O’Connor
Membership Marketing Rie Sakamoto
Professional Activities Andrew Sharp,
Tetsuo Jimbo
Public Relations Imad Ajami, Kazumi Hayakawa
Publications Gavin Blair
Special Projects Haruko Watanabe
Web Committee Gavin Blair
Foreign Press in Japan Justin McCurry

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.
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 illustration: Andrew Pothecary3

FRONT PAGE

From thePresident
I WANT TO DISCUSS a topic that is the main feature ofthis month’s Number 1 Shimbun: The FCCJ move to a newClub in a new building a few blocks up Naka-dori.
While the pictures with the layout are artist renderings
and the interior design is in early stages, it is hoped thiswill give members some sense of the new Club’s potential.
While the potential is what I’d like to focus on, let’s firstlook at the journalism industry.
I’ve had a front row seat to the fundamental changes
in journalism over the past 30 years and also felt thefull brunt of the euphemistically named “downsizing” ofnewsrooms. (Downsizing being one of those awful words
invented by companies to try and disguise what they are
doing: firing people.)
In summary, the model that supported journalistic work
has shifted drastically, and – like other industrial upheavals– left tens of thousands unemployed.
While this trend has intensified in the past 15 years or
so, what has been happening at the FCCJ? Well, the Clubhas also felt the brunt in the shrinking of news bureaus
and the loss of journalist members. But the question is,“Has the Club remained relevant enough to respond to
the needs of today’s journalist?” I would argue the answer
is “No.” And I believe one reason for that is the outdated
premises we occupy.
We now have an opportunity to do something significant
about that in the offer from the Mitsubishi Group. As thelayout of the new sixth floor shows, we plan to build aproper interview room, photo studio, broadcast center,
offices for news bureaus, a much-expanded workroom
for journalists, updated audiovisual services, expanded
research and library facilities, wire services and more.
This will give the Club a much-improved opportunity
to attract more journalists and newsmakers – right in theheart of Marunouchi.
The broadcast center, for example, will provide a onestop shop for journalists to deliver Japan’s news of the day
into TV newsrooms anywhere in the world right from the
FCCJ. This is also a potential new revenue stream for theClub. With facilities such as this, we aim to attract small
news bureaus to locate to the Club, another potential
revenue stream.
To belabor the point, as journalism has fundamentallyshifted in the gathering and distribution of news, the Clubcannot remain the same and remain relevant. It’s perhaps
a harsh truth, but it could be argued the new Club is not
for most of us reading this magazine – it’s for the future.
That future must ensure a vibrant, relevant bastion of
independent journalism in Tokyo.
While the journalism industry has changed, one thingthat hasn’t is the importance of journalism to civil society
and the public’s right to know. Next time you are in
the Club, seek out the brass plaques near the entrance
commemorating journalists killed in wars in Asia. Readthe names. It’s a sobering moment. This is the Foreign
Correspondents’ Club of Japan.
– Peter Langan
4

COLLECTIONSFROM THE ARCHIVESDISABILITY IN JAPANTED KENNEDY(“LION OF THE
SENATE”) VISITSHIROSHIMA

10%
5%

Average percentageof world population
with disabilities**
Percentage ofJapanese population
with disabilities**

3,663,000

Number of physically disabled persons in Japan***

3,576,000

Number of physically disabled persons living at home***

1,657,000
179,000

160
127
17

Number of Japaneseparticipants in 2004
Paralympic Games

Number of Japaneseparticipants in 2016
Paralympic Games

Number of events Japanese
will compete in 2016
Paralympic Games5

Limb disabilities*

Multiple disabilities*

87,00043%
1.8%

Employment quota
for disabled at private
enterprises**

Physically disabled persons
living in facilities***

Employment rate ofJapanese with physicaldisabilities**

1.59%

Actual employment
rate for disabled at
private enterprises**
SEPT 2016

FCCJ

Gold-Silver-Bronze
Medals won
by Japanese
athletes in
2012

5
6

Medals won by Japanese athletes in 2016:? ??

(The 2016
Paralympics
start on Sept. 7)*2000 **2010 ***2011
Sources: Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Disabled World,
Tokai Gakuen, Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information
Center, Japan Paralympic Committee
FCCJ

SEPT 2016

Senator Edward M. Kennedy at the FCCJ on Jan. 12,
1978, conversing with photojournalist Sam L. Jones.
Seated to his left is Club President Frederick “Ted”
Marks (UPI). Senator Kennedy’s interest in nuclear
disarmament had brought him to Japan to visit
Hiroshima, where he gave a public speech on thesubject in January at Hiroshima University. His visit
preceded that of President Obama by 38 years
Born into the illustrious Kennedy family on
Feb. 22, 1932, Ted Kennedy was the youngest
brother of President John F. Kennedy, who wasassassinated in November of 1963, and Senator
Robert F. Kennedy, who met a similar fate in Juneof 1968. In 1972, Ted Kennedy was elected to the
U.S. Senate, where he represented Massachusetts
for almost 47 years. He was to become one of
the more prominent progressives in the U.S.,
a career almost derailed by the Chappaquiddick
incident of 1969 in which his companion, MaryJo Kopechne, drowned after his car ran off abridge. He was charged with fleeing the sceneof the accident.
Despite that major hit to his reputation, thismember of the Kennedy family went on to become
the second most senior member of the Senate
and the sponsor of more than 300 bills that wereenacted into law. His emphasis was on economic
and social justice and these bills covered a range
from immigration to healthcare issues. In fact,
universal healthcare was his ultimate goal,
although he was not to see it in his lifetime.
Ted Kennedy died in August of 2009, a little
more than a year after he was diagnosed with amalignant brain tumor.

— Charles Pomeroy
5

FEATURE
NEW CLUB PREMISES

The
proposedplan
for thenew homeof theFCCJ

Floors 5 and 6

The Club will be located on the fifth and sixth
floors of the provisionally named “Marunouchi 3-2
Project,” a 30-story building facing the Imperial
Palace grounds. The Club’s premises will look over
the tree-lined avenues of Naka-dori and Babasakidori, facing the Marunouchi Brick Square.
6

OCTOBER 2018 is the month tonote in your diary.
That’s when the Foreign
Correspondents’ Club of Japanis scheduled to move into brandnew premises just a few blocks
up Naka-dori. Right now, the plot
is a construction site diagonallyacross from the Marunouchi
Brick Square, but in a little
more than two years it will be
a 30-story skyscraper with the
FCCJ the planned new occupantof the fifth and sixth floors.
In the past 12 months, the Clubhas held Town Hall meetings
for staff and members to solicit
suggestions and comments onwhat the new club should include
and also to illustrate how theplans are looking and developing.
While some features are still
being worked on and the project
starts to move into an interiordesign stage, we’d like to sharewith readers who haven’t beenable to attend the Town Hallmeetings the latest state of playof the floor planning.
Please understand that thesefloor plans and other features
are tentative. There is muchwork to do in many areas, andwe are continuing to turn toMembers for their expertise,comments and suggestions.
Also please note that thecomputer-generated images
that we’re showing on thesepages are to help in visualizing
the atmosphere and spacialconsiderations of the proposed
plan, and are not indicative of
the final interior design.
We hope that these pages
help our Members understandthe present state of the proposed
move, and perhaps instillsome excitement about theClub’s future.

Visions

Several themes for the basic
design scheme are being
discussed at the first stageof development, including astraightforward modern look(top) and a more Japanesecontemporary motif(bottom) illustrated in theseimages of the reception area.
These images were createdfor presentation
purposes and are not the
final design.

— Peter Langan
SEPT 2016

FCCJ

FCCJ

SEPT 2016

7

FEATURE
NEW CLUB PREMISES

5

th
floor

[Details of the floor plan are not final]

The various multi-purpose rooms can be configured in a
number of ways, from banquet-style seating (above)to theatre-style (below).

Straight ahead is the VIP Room,where special guests and speakers
can be welcomed prior to their press
conference. It features a view overBabasaki-dori toward the Imperial
Palace. When not being used for VIPs,
the room will be available for meetingsor entertaining guests.

The reception area directly faces theentrance. The Entrance Hall will feature
digital displays of Club events, TV feeds,
Member portraits and lounge facilities

From the Reception, the Gallery
Hallway to the right leads to the Club’s
interior, with increased space for awide variety of displays celebrating theClub’s journalistic heritage as well as
contemporary exhibitions.

The Heritage Hallway features displaysof photos and artifacts from theClub’s history, including typewriters,
mementos from the Korean War andplaques commemorating journalists
killed in the conflict on the Korean
Peninsular and in Indochina.

Dedicated elevators will
deliver Members and theirguests directly to the Club’s
Entrance Hall from the firstfloor or the parking garage.
There will be underground
access to the Hibiya andNijubashimae subway stations
and neighboring buildings.

To the left is the large PAC Event
Room, which seats up to 230 people.
It will feature a removable podium
and include space for TV cameras,
along with a dedicated camera forlive streaming of events. Dividers will
make it possible to split the space
into three different rooms, offering
flexible arrangements for banquets,
presentations, meetings, and otherevents. An accessible open balcony
runs along the street side.

Off the Heritage Hallway to the right
are two Multi-Purpose Rooms formeetings, banquets and other uses.
Depending on their configuration,
the capacity in each ranges from 30
to 50 guests. Further down and off to
the right is a fully accessible restroom
within the Club’s own premises.

A fully modern kitchen
space will facilitate
efficient, quick service toMembers and their guests.

8

Further down the hallway past the PAC
event space is a Fine Dining Area,capable of seating as many as 48
Members and their guests.

From the bar area will
be a Staircase leading to
the Journalism Rooms,
Library, Reading Lounge,
Sushi Bar and Club Officeon the 6th floor.

SEPT 2016

FCCJ

At the end of the Heritage Hallway willbe the entrance to the Main Bar. The
Main Bar will seat 82 as well as include
standing space. It will feature expansive
windows with a view of Marunouchi
Brick Square and Naka-dori. The open
balcony will be accessible from the bar
as well. The shape of the bar itself isunder consideration.

FCCJ

SEPT 2016

9

FEATURE
NEW CLUB PREMISES

6

Left, from the bar areain this cut-away view will
be a Staircase leading to
the Journalism Rooms,
Library, Reading Lounge,
Sushi Bar and Club
Office on the 6th floor.

th
floor

Current building[Details of the floor plan are not final]

At the end of the corridor
is the Administration
Office of the FCCJ.

Also on the left is a new addition to
the Club – a Broadcast Center withaudio-visual equipment for the useof professional members and media.

The library lounge (6th floor) and Main Bar (5th floor)

The 6th-floor facilities will be accessible
from the Staircase leading up fromthe 5th floor. The entry opens directly
into the Library, with librarian desks
located to the left and a round table inthe center for wire services. Additional
locker space will also be available.

To the left of the entrance, past thelibrarian’s desk, will be a corridor.
On the right of the corridor are
6 Rental Office Spaces forjournalists and bureaus. These
offices will overlook Babasaki-dori.

To the right of theentranceway will be theWork Spaces. At least 20
work booths have beenplanned for this area. Of
course, phone and Skypefacilities will be available.

On the left side will be the
Library Stacks, as well as a
Meeting Room/Photo Studio thatphotographers can reserve forshooting or interviewing.
The Library Lounge area willfeature expansive windows andan airy interior. Like the 5th floor,
it will overlook the Marunouchi
Brick Square and the tree-lined
intersection of Babasaki-dori andNaka-dori.

A corridor to the right of
the Library entrance leads
to the enlarged Masukomi
Sushi restaurant, withseating for 28.

10

New building

SEPT 2016

FCCJ

FCCJ

SEPT 2016

11

SERIESPROFILE

Hans Greimel
by JULIAN RYALLT

He later returned to the U.S., where he went on to take a
Masters degree in International Affairs at Columbia University, along with a number of journalism classes, before applying for a job with the Associated Press.
He made it clear to his new employer that he fully intended to get back overseas at the earliest opportunity, but was
required to earn his journalistic spurs in Portland, Oregon for
18 months. After serving as a business reporter in Frankfurt,
an opportunity came up for a postingin Tokyo.
Arriving in the immediate aftermathof the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, Greimel’s first assignment
was to interview – in halting Japanese– people on the streets of Tokyo about
their reaction to the attacks. Four
years later, he was promoted to news
editor of AP’s Seoul bureau. After lessthan a year, however, he left for a brief stint with Bloomberg
News in Tokyo to be with his pregnant Japanese wife, before
returning to AP.
Greimel joined Automotive News in August 2007. “It felt
good to settle down at last,” he says. It has been a ride forindustry stories over the intervening years, he believes.
“First we had the financial crisis, which broadsided theglobal industry and saw Japanese car firms going fromrecord sales and profits to being in the red. That came as areal shock to the industry.”That was followed by a series of important stories: Toyota
Motor’s recall over problems with its accelerator systems– “The public reaction was horror; they had never seen thewords ‘Toyota’ and ‘recall’ in the same sentence” – the knockon effects in the industry after the
March 2011 triple disaster, the riseof both hybrid and electric cars and,most recently, the ongoing scandal
involving airbags manufactured by
Takata Corp.
“It has been a rich and dynamic beatand I can honestly say that I have neverbeen bored covering the auto industry
here,” he says. “There are times when I
miss the diversity of stories that I had
to write about at AP, and being sent on
assignments from Hokkaido to Okinawa, or covering the Iraq war or terrorist
and earthquake stories in Pakistan, but
I’m very happy doing what I do now.”
Greimel says he relaxes by gardening – “We have a small garden, but it’sas close to nature that you can get inTokyo” – and teaching a couple of journalism classes at Waseda University's
graduate school. He also likes goingto the beach with his wife, Yumiko, ajournalist at TBS, and two daughters –Julian Ryall is Japan correspondent for thethough he has to take the train because
Daily Telegraph.
he does not have a car. ❶he language barrier and press departments that are
reluctant to provide information are common problems that face foreign correspondents based in thispart of the world. For Hans Greimel, the hurdles to him doing
his job have been even higher. As the Tokyo-based Asia Editor
for the U.S. publication, Automotive News, there is the lingering misconception among car companies – at least in Japan– that he is either an agent or an apologist for Detroit’s “BigThree” vehicle manufacturers.
Greimel concedes that their suspicions are understandable. But he insists
they are wide of the mark. “There has
been distrust of the foreign auto media,
particularly of a media firm that isbased in Detroit,” he says. “Automotive
News has had a presence in Japan sincethe 1980s, but we were often seen as amouthpiece for Ford, General Motors
and Chrysler, and there was this idea that we were going toalways be on their side.
“When I started nine years ago, there was this lingering
sense that the U.S. was still wary of Japan and that our bias
would naturally be towards Detroit,” he says. “But I think thatis changing, in part because there is less rivalry now thanthere used to be because so many Japanese auto companies
have localized their manufacturing in the U.S.”
Born in Rochester, Michigan – ironically, not far fromthe city synonymous with America’s automobile industry –46-year-old Greimel studied philosophy and political scienceat the University of Michigan and dabbled with the idea of acareer in politics immediately after graduating. A short spell inthe state capitol quickly disabused him of that notion. “I realized I just couldn’t stomach the politics
of the party that I was working for, so
I fled the country and came to Japan.”
Greimel spent two years in the JET
program, teaching English to reluctant
high-school students in Sakai, outside Osaka. He enjoyed the teaching,he said, but his experiences in Japan
were a real eye-opener and fostered aninterest in journalism.
“I thought I was a reasonably welleducated American, but when I got toJapan, I realized just how little I actually knew about the country,” he says. “It
was the little things; I came out of the
airport just after I arrived and nearly
got knocked down by a car because I
didn’t know they drove on the otherside of the road here.”
GREIMEL STARTED SENDING DISPATCHES
to his hometown newspaper, the Rochester Clarion, acting as “the eyes andears of someone who couldn’t experience Japan for themselves, but wereinterested in the country.”
12

SEPT 2016

FCCJ

ANDREW POTHECARY“I realized I justcouldn’t stomach
the politics, so I fled
the country and cameto Japan.”FCCJSEPT 201613

FEATURE
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM

Whatever happened
to thePanama Papers?

and sometimes evade taxes, the size and scope of the revelations led some to hope that this could be a watershed moment
which would result in real change.
“This wasn’t new. We had the Swiss Leaks, the Luxembourg
Leaks [published by the ICIJ in February 2015 and November 2014, respectively], and GFI [Global Financial Integrity],
which doesn’t get the coverage it deserves, that was providing this kind of information already,” says Virgil Hawkins,
who teaches courses in media studies, international politics and African conflict studies at Osaka University. “The scale was new and the
media attention was new.”From the outset, articles focusedon the famous, particularly the
involvement of then British Prime
Minister David Cameron, Icelandic
Premier Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, who was forced to resign,
and associates of both Russia’s
Putin and Chinese leaders, including Xi Jinping. In somerespects, the global media was following the lead of the ICIJ
in its framing of the story with its Power Players articles.
But the relative lack of attention given to the underlying
issues behind the big names was seen by some as a missed
opportunity. “Putin made for a good punching bag, especiallyafter Crimea/Ukraine. And as China and Russia are powerful,it’s understandable they got a lot of coverage,” says Hawkins.
“The news is the news, looking at events that happen, and bydefinition it is not very good at dealing with systemic and structural problems,” Hawkins says. “If Putin is on the list along with
the name of some faceless corporation, Putin is the one you gofor. If we have a Panama Papers report on trade mis-invoicing[so-called transfer pricing], then people will be asleep before
you’ve finished the segment. The amounts of money involved
are staggering, but even that attracts less attention than Putin.”
The G20 has since come up with a blacklist for countries
that don’t meet the criteria for transparency, though Hawkins
notes, “People who do look at these things said it would be tooeasy to avoid being blacklisted.”but maybe they did dig into it and found it was legitimate,”says Hawkins.
Sawa refutes any suggestion that domestic entities were
given an easy ride.
“We did cover Japanese companies and individuals fairly,
but there were actually very few Japanese names – about 400
Japanese individuals and entities. In fact, compared to ourcounterparts in the West, I wonder if we actually went further,” he says.
“One issue was that criminal court
records in Japan are effectively notopen, even though according to theConstitution we should have open
courts, so it wasn’t possible, forexample, to check whether criminals
were using offshore entities to hidestolen money,” says Sawa.
Meanwhile, Alecci suggests, “It’swrong to think of the Panama Papers
as representative of the offshore
world. For example, Fonseca tried not to have much exposure
to the U.S.: it was part of their business strategy. And more
people in Japan use the Cayman Islands.”

DENNIZN | DREAMSTIME.COM“The news is the news,
looking at events that
happen . . . by definition it
is not very good at dealing
with systemic problems”

The follow-up to the
explosive revelationsof how the wealthy hide
their fortunes ended
up illustrating both thestrengths and shortcomingsof the global media.

F

ive months after the story broke, the sointernational network founded by the Cenby GAVIN BLAIR
called Panama Papers – the biggest leakter for Public Integrity. A team of aroundof documents in history – has inevitably
400 journalists at 107 media in more than
dropped out of the mainstream news cycle.
80 countries was assembled to collaborate
The revelations contained in the 11.5 million documents ofclosely on poring over the files.
Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca blew the lid off how
a portion of the world’s wealthy individuals and corporations,
THE ICIJ INITIALLY APPROACHED two Italian journalists, Scillaalong with organized crime, have been hiding their money
Alecci and Alessia Cerantola, to work the Japanese end of theand evading taxes.
operation. Alecci, who began her journalism career in Japan
The investigation demonstrated the strengths of the global– and had a three-year stint at Bloomberg’s Tokyo office –media at a time it is under threat like never before, but also
agreed to work on the project without knowing the details,
highlighted some of its shortcomings. Most of the coveragein June 2015. The pair then spent seven months combing
focused on the big name individuals, many in Russia and Chithrough the files until they “realized we needed help fromna, who had used the firm, while the systemic issues, like theJapanese journalists,” says Alecci. They secured the cooperaability of global companies to employ methods such as tradetion of Asahi Shimbun’s Toshihiro Okuyama and Yasuomi Sawa
mispricing to avoid billions in taxes received less attention.
of Kyodo News, Alecci’s former lecturer on a Waseda UniverThe story began in late 2014 with an anonymous source –sity journalism post-graduate course.
who would eventually share 2.6 terabytes of data on nearlyAt 7:00 p.m. GMT on Sunday, April 3, the first batch of news
215,000 shell companies – contacting Bastian Obermayer,
stories was released by cooperating media organizations
a journalist at Munich newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The
around the globe. With information on more than 140 senior
paper revealed in a Feb. 25, 2016 article that it was in possesfigures from regimes around the world, along with numersion of leaked data files from Mossack Fonseca.
ous celebrities, it became one of the biggest news stories of
Due to the overwhelming amount of data, Süddeutsche
the year, providing precise details on shadowy financial pracZeitung decided to work with the Washington-based Intertices. Although it was widely-known that the super-rich andnational Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), an
corporations had long been employing such methods to avoid
14

SEPT 2016

FCCJ

INDEED, GIVEN THE NUMBER of entities registered in British overseas territories, including the Caymans, British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and the Channel Islands, along witha number of intermediary entities located in the U.K. itself,
the government at Westminster appeared to get off lightly.
The news that former PM Cameron’s father had a trust registered through Fonseca made headlines, and the opposition
has called for a clampdown on offshore centers in Britishcontrolled territories. But for the time being at least, it seems
to be business as usual.
And the media is not responsible for, or capable of, reforming the global financial system. “It spurred a debate aboutsomething that people took for granted,” says Alecci. “These
11.5 million files showed evidence of how this worked, stepby step, and provided more understanding of a world that issecretive by nature. Changing laws is up to governments.”
Alecci sees the process of global cooperation on the projCOUNTRIES ARE PLANNING TO increase the sharing of finanect as good for journalism. “Journalists are used to scooping
cial information, though measures had already been agreed
each other, keeping information to themselves. That can leadon before the revelations. “It costs lot of money to maintainto issues being ignored or disappearing after a few days. The
such a system, which poorer countries don’t have. Those peocollaborative aspect had a big impact on me,” says Alecci.
ple [tax evaders] have armies of lawyers, and poor countries
That is a view echoed by Sawa, “Collaboration is especially
don’t,” says Hawkins.
important in these financially challenging times.” In this era
Kyodo’s Sawa is somewhat more positive, believing theof financial pressures and immediate digital feedback, theattention has encouraged world leaders to close tax loopholes
media is under unprecedented pressure to deliver what theirand put pressure on offshore financial centers to cooperate
readers want. Even the way in which the various well-known
more. “In Japan, it has increased attention on offshore entipeople whose names appeared were treated by the media isties, tax havens and transparency, as many people learned
perhaps an illustration of that.
about them for the first time. The phrase ‘tax haven’ has
Veteran Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan has publicly madebecome known in Japan,” says Sawa.
much of his charitable activities and the fact that he plans“It’s frustrating that people were just interested in theto give all his money away before he dies, leaving none tosuperficial side, i.e. ‘this guy has an offshore company,’ rather
his children. Though Chan is apparently equally reluctant tothan asking ‘what is the system or structure,’” says Sawa. “It’sleave it to the tax authorities, with six companies registeredinevitable for journalists to look for a hook and it’s inevitablein the British Virgin Islands, he attracted little criticism.
that there’ll be some dumbing down.”“Jackie Chan is a lovable kind of person,” says Hawkins, so
There were also concerns voiced that the domestic media
we don’t want to believe he’s involved in something like this.
didn’t really go after the Japanese names that appeared in
If Mugabe [president of Zimbabwe] was on the list, you canthe leak, although having companies or accounts registered
bet it would have been different.”
through Mossack Fonseca was not proof of wrongdoing.
“We want to be shocked, but in a way we expect,” adds
“I did feel the Japanese media
Hawkins. “In some ways, the PanGavin Blair covers Japanese business, society and culture forhad been very soft on Japaneseama Papers gave us the shock wepublications in America, Asia, and Europe.
corporations and individuals . . .
wanted.” ❶FCCJSEPT 201615

CLUB NEWSCLUB NEWSSPECIAL CAMPAIGN OFFER FOR NEW ASSOCIATE MEMBERSFCCJ EXHIBITION
The FCCJ is offering a special deal for new
Associate Members. From the beginning of September
to the end of the year, those joining are eligible fora ¥100,000 DISCOUNT off of the regular fee of¥300,000.
If successfully approved, the applicants will beable to enjoy all the member benefits: attendance at
all the major press conferences and professional andsocial events; dining services at the Main Bar, Pen & Quill
Executive Dining area and the Masukomi Sushi Bar; special
discounts on sports, arts and cultural events; free wi-fi, half-price parking, theClub’s monthly magazine; and access to reciprocal press clubs around the world.
Present members can also benefit. A ¥20,000 restaurant voucher will begiven to those who introduce successfully approved new Associates. For more
information, or to pick up an application form, go to the front desk.

JOIN THE FILM COMMITTEE . . .

FantaSea: photographs by Sachi Murai
Sachi Murai was adiving instructor on asmall island in Okinawa
before turning tophotography.
He balances his time
between photography,
writing and talkshows.
Murai’s primary goal is
to make people happy
through his photos.
Locations vary fromunderwater to dry land
and in different places
around the globe.
www.muraisachi.com. . . at 6:45 pm on Wed., Sept. 28 fora screening of this year’s Cannes Un
Certain Regard Jury Award-winner,
Harmonium (Fuchi ni tatsu). The film is athrillingly dark portrait of the collapse ofa fractured family following the arrivalof an old acquaintance (played by star
Tadanobu Asano with chilling politesse),
who moves in and begins working in theirsmall factory. If this sounds thematicallysimilar to Fukada’s 2010 Hospitalité, whichmarked his advent on the international
scene, that’s because it is. However, where
the first was an amiable, blackly comic
romp, Harmonium is altogether more
serious-minded: an enigmatic, entirely
engrossing work that probes undercurrents of surprising philosophical depth,
it also ends with an ambiguity that will incite discussion long after its final,
devastating moments. Fukada and stars Mariko Tsutsui and Kanji Furutachi will
be on hand for a Q&A session afterward, perhaps joined by Asano.
(Japan, 2016; 119 minutes; Japanese with English subtitles.)– Karen Severns

Discount LexisNexis
Subscriptions
for FCCJ Members
The FCCJ is pleased to offer
members a substantial discount on
subscriptions to LexisNexis’ news
database service, Nexis.com
The Members-only deal
allows for flat-rate access at¥7,900 per month – offering
big savings on a service that
normally costs ¥126,000 per month

The service will be billed by theClub. The FCCJ benefits from all
subscriptions sold under thisarrangement.
Nexis provides access to news andinformation from more than 34,000
sources, including Kyodo News, Jiji,
Yonhap, Xinhua, AP, Reuters, AFP,
all major world newspapers andspecialist news sources. Also
included is a database of U.S. andinternational company information,
biographical databases, country
profiles and a U.S. legal database.

For those already in on the secret,the application form is available
on the FCCJ website or from the
19F Club office.

Your ad in our pages
Advertize in
Number 1 Shimbun
Contact
no.1shimbun@fccj.or.jp

WELCOME TO THE WORLD of FantaSea.
An abundance of beautiful colors exists beneath the ocean’s surface.
I chose these artworks to introduce the enchanting life found in theoceans around Japan. The scenery might seem unreal, but it really exists.
Our Earth is beautiful. I believe if more people appreciate the wondersof nature, there will be more smiling faces. ❶16

SEPT 2016

FCCJ

FCCJ

SEPT 201617

CLUB NEWSHEARD AT THE CLUB“No”

New in the
Library

Renho, Democratic Party
presidential candidate
at the Club on Aug. 22,
in answer to the question:“Someone like Ichiro Ozawa isundoubtedly a brilliant politicalstrategist. Do you see any
possibility of employing his
talents, for example, in helping
the party to regain office?”

Tokyo Vice: Un journaliste américain sur leterrain de la police japonaise
Jake Adelstein; Cyril Gay (trans.)
Marchialy
Gift from Jake Adelstein
Dissenting Japan: A History ofJapanese Radicalism and Counterculture
from 1945 to Fukushima
William Andrews
C. Hurst & Co.
Gift from C. Hurst & Co. Ltd.
Le comte des nuages: Masanao Abe face
au mont Fuji
Yoshiaki Nishino (edit.)Musée de l'Université de Tokyo
Gift from Masami Abe

New
Members

REGULAR MEMBERSJONATHAN DEHART currently serves as an editor and content
manager for Mergermarket, a global M&A newswire, and writes
freelance about culture and social trends around Asia. He has beena journalist for both print and online media in Shanghai, and served
as a Tokyo-based associate editor for The Diplomat, a webzine focusedon the current affairs, society and culture of the Asia-Pacific. He
continues to serve as a correspondent for The Diplomat, among
other publications. He also interprets social and cultural trends in
Asia for leading behavioral insights and cultural consulting agencies.
ABIGAIL LEONARD is a freelance, Tokyo-based journalist. She
earned a master’s degree in Science and Environmental Reportingfrom NYU and a bachelor’s degree, with departmental honors,
from the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked as a staff
producer for PBS, CNN, ABC and Al Jazeera America. She was alsoa writer for two news analysis programs: “Countdown with Keith
Olbermann” and “The War Room with Jennifer Granholm.” Herstories on Japan and the U.S. have appeared in print publications
including the Washington Post, Newsweek, Popular Science, Vox, the
New York Daily News and Newsday and her radio stories have runon the BBC. Stories she’s worked on have earned an Overseas
Press Club Award, an Emmy Award and an Excellence in HealthCare Journalism Award. She also received an East-West Center
Fellowship to Japan and the UN Foundation Journalism Fellowship.
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Florian Kohlbacher,
Economist Group
Shirley Yung, Hong Kong
Economic andTrade Office18

Kazunori Azeyanagi,
Dentsu Public
Relations Inc.
Taro Tokuoka, Solid
Corporation

REINSTATEMENT(ASSOCIATE)
Isao Saito, U & IHR
Consulting

Japanese Death Poems: Written by
Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the
Verge of Death
Yoel Hoffmann (comp.)
Tuttle Publishing
The Company and the Shogun: The Dutch
Encounter With Tokugawa Japan
Adam Clulow
Columbia University Press
Japan Restored: How Japan Can Reinvent
Itself and Why This Is Important for America
and the World
Clyde Prestowitz
Tuttle Publishing
Hijikata Tatsumi and
Butoh: Dancing in a Poolof Gray Grits
Bruce Baird
Palgrave Macmillan
A Career of Japan:
Baron Raimund Von Stillfried and Early
Yokohama Photography
Luke Gartlan
Brill
Zen Poems of China & Japan:
The Crane’s Bill
Lucien Stryk (trans.);
Takashi Ikemoto (trans.); Taigan Takayama (assisnt.)
Grove Press

SEPT 2016

FCCJ