Media and Politics in Japan

4. Japan’s Press and the Politics of Scandal

133 4 Japan’s Press and the Politics of Scandal MAGGIE FARLEY Of the many functions filled by the press in a modern democracy like Japan, none is more essential than that of “watchdog,” ferreting out and exposing the wrongdoing and incompetence of those in authority. Governments everywhere seek to transmit only what makes them appear wise, efficient, and good, and to hide whatever will arouse anger, shame, or ridicule and thus decrease support for the regime and its incumbents. Indeed, government officials often seem to lose the distinction between what is merely embarrassing to an individual or party and what may endanger national interest or security—that is, between the controversial and the politically dangerous. The press draws those distinctions and can bring down governments. Although other institutions—opposition parties, parliamentary question-and-answer sessions, or legislative committees—may function in the watchdog role, their work has little meaning unless it is also reported and disseminated in the media. Further, there may be conflicts of interest in or pressure brought to bear on those other bodies capable of investigation because they are all related to the state in one way or another; in democratic polities, only the media are autonomous from the state. And the media have the motivation to play such a watchdog role because of both journalistic norms and commercial self-interest. A scoop, bluntly put, sells papers; a scandal lures viewers. This chapter assesses how well or poorly the Japanese press performs this important democratic function. Japan provides an especially important context for exploring the watchdog role of the press. First, because the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) held power for almost four decades, Japan’s opposition parties had less leverage in checking governmental power than do opposition parties elsewhere, 134 Maggie Farley which have the prospect of “turning the rascals out.” It was left to the press to be the major institution capable of limiting elite power through exposure and the reaction of public opinion. Second, the especially close relationship of Japanese business and other major interest groups with the LDP and an electoral system that has required astounding amounts of money to maintain representatives in power have led to frequent scandals and charges of corruption involving politicians, especially those of the LDP. Among these affairs are several that eventually helped to set the stage for the LDP’s split and loss of power in 1993. What role has the press played in raising and pursuing these allegations? Third, Japan’s history and culture would seem to pose an obstacle to the press in its role as watchdog. Government restrictions on the press were in place almost from the beginning of Japan’s modern era following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, long predating the even more draconian restrictions employed by the military in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Japanese culture traditionally also has deemphasized conflict and controversy. Whether the press has been more influenced by this historical background or by the Allied Occupation ’s attempt to bring democratic pluralism, responsible criticism, and independent and unbiased reporting to the Japanese media’s relationship to government is an important question. Finally, Japan’s media organizations have some unique features. For example, the “reporters’ clubs” through which most news is gathered do not exist in the same way and to the same extent in other democratic nations. How do these influence the ability of the press to perform its watchdog role? The answer to the question of whether the Japanese press—in the context of a dominant-party regime with close and sometimes scandalous relations with major interest groups, of a historical tradition of press restriction, and of unique journalistic institutions—is able to perform the watchdog function well is by no means clear even today. The press commits itself formally to norms of independence, impartiality , and truthfulness, and even “to ensure the democratization of Japan.”1 Major press leaders perceive themselves to have a special responsibility in this dominant-party system to check the government . Yukio Matsuyama, the former editorial chairman of Asahi, has stated that “with the Liberal Democratic Party as the de facto ruling party, there is collusion between the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. If there is no confrontation between the three big powers , then it falls upon the fourth estate to provide opposition to government.”2 Indeed, some American observers have criticized the Japan’s Press and the Politics of Scandal...