Junnosuke Ofusa was the first journalist ever to receive Japan's Order of the Sacred Treasure

Order of the Sacred Treasure

The is a Japanese Order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan as the Order of Meiji. It is awarded in eight classes . It is generally awarded for long and/or meritorious service and considered to be the lowest of the Japanese orders of merit...

. He was presented with the Fourth Class Order of the Sacred Treasure in a ceremony at the Foreign Ministry for "the service he has rendered in promoting friendly relations between Japan and the United States for many years." Emperor Hirohito later received Mr. Ofusa at the Imperial Palace

Imperial Palace

Imperial Palace may refer to:Institutions*Kaiserpfalz in the Holy Roman EmpirePlaces:*Forbidden City, Beijing, China*Tokyo Imperial Palace , Tokyo, Japan*Heijō Palace, Nara Japan*Heian Palace, Japan...

.

New York Times Tokyo Bureau

Ofusa managed the Tokyo Bureau of The New York Times for nearly six decades. He was hired in 1930 by the first bureau chief for The Times in Tokyo, Hugh Byas. Across the decades, Ofusa worked with more than twenty bureau chiefs and correspondents assigned to Tokyo, acting as reporter, interpreter and fixer. The next bureau chief, Otto D. Tolischus

Otto D. Tolischus

Otto David Tolischus was a Prussian-Lithuanian-born journalist for the New York Times and winner of the 1940 Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence for his writing in Berlin during World War II....

, was arrested on the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. For months Mr. Ofusa took food and clothes to Mr. Tolischus in prison, until he was sent to the United States in a prisoner exchange. When the American occupation army swept into Tokyo in 1945, Mr. Ofusa greeted the arriving correspondent, Lindesay M. Parrott, with a smile, saying: "I did my best to defeat your country. But now the war is over."

In 1981, Ofusa celebrated his first fifty years with the Times Tokyo Bureau. A.M. Rosenthal, the executive editor of The Times, and his wife, Ann, were the hosts at a reception at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan

Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan was started in 1945 to provide infrastructure for foreign journalists working in Post-World War II Japan. Historically, the club has been located in the area around Ginza....

. The reception was attended by 150 guests, including U.S. Ambassador Mike Mansfield

Mike Mansfield

Michael Joseph Mansfield was an American Democratic politician and the longest-serving Majority Leader of the United States Senate, serving from 1961 to 1977. He also served as United States Ambassador to Japan for over ten years...

. Among the guests attending the reception were Ryugen Hosokawa, Japan's leading television commentator and an old friend of Mr. Ofusa, and Junichi Ueno

Junichi Ueno

Junici Ueno was the co-owner of the .This powerful Japanese journalist owned and published a newspaper which is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. During the years of his ownership, Asahis circulation rose to approximately 8.27 million for its morning edition...

, a major stockholder and owner of the mass circulation newspaper, the Asahi Shimbun

Asahi Shimbun

The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun...

. Seiki Watanabe, president of the Asahi, and Junzo Onoki, president of the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association

Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association

Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association, the Nihon Shinbun Kyokai , is an entirely independent and voluntary organization funded and operated by the mass media of Japan. NSK was established on July 23, 1946. Its express purpose is to elevate ethical standards in reporting and protect...

(Nihon Shinbun Kyokai), were represented by senior officials and board members. Numerous high-ranking Foreign Ministry officials were present.

Order of the Sacred Treasure

An Imperial invitation to the palace was eagerly accepted. Ofusa later told a New York Times colleague:

"I have worked hard for the maintenance of United States-Japanese relations throughout my life .... When the war broke out, I did everything I could as a Japanese subject for my country. But never did I dream that I, as an employee of The New York Times and a working journalist, would have a great honor bestowed upon me by His Majesty the Emperor."

External links

• The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association: Pressnet web site