Kisha club
Encyclopedia
A , or "reporters' club", from the Japanese word , meaning reporter, is a Japanese news-gathering association of reporters from specific news organizations, whose reporting centers on a press room set up by sources such as the Prime Minister's official residence, government ministries, local authorities, the police
, or corporate bodies.
Institutions with a kisha club limit their press conferences to the journalist
s of that club, and membership rules for kisha clubs are restrictive. This limits access by domestic magazines and the foreign media, as well as freelance reporters
, to the press conferences.
While similar arrangements exist in all countries, the Japanese form of this type of organization has characteristics unique to Japan, and hence the Japanese term is used in other languages.
March 1941
October 26, 1949
December 1997
March 24, 2005
July 9, 2005
November 8, 2005
The aim of making reporting agreements is often to avoid excessive competition during reporting. Agreements may also be made based on a request by, for example, the police, to protect the victims in cases such as kidnappings.
Defenders of the system also argue that the kisha clubs' influence is used to open up the institution they are covering to scrutiny, although this argument would seem self-contradictory.
There are also cases of regulations imposed by kisha clubs on reporting at off the record
occasions such as informal conventions. If these regulations are broken, the offender is often subject to penalties, such as being forbidden from attending the kisha club.
There is criticism that press rooms set up for kisha clubs by government agencies, local public bodies and the police are paid for with tax
es, but can only be used by the member companies, leading to corruption. If local government agencies are included, the total yearly costs are thought to run to 600 million yen.
In 1921, a gas company bribed the to gain approval for a rise in gas prices. It was discovered that newspaper reporters attending the city hall
and Tokyo Metropolitan Police kisha clubs had also been bribed, an event condemned by public opinion. (The Tokyo Gas suspected bribery incident.)
In 1974, when the weekly magazine Bungei Shunshū reported on the Kakuei Tanaka funding problem, the allegations were already well known in the kisha club but the media was silent about the story.
In 1998, during the broadcast on TBS
of the TV program , "A Conversation with the Prime Minister", News 23 anchor Tetsuya Chikushi
suggested to the Prime Minister of the time, Keizō Obuchi
that, given the success of the Town Meeting
s held by President Bill Clinton
, also shown by TBS, perhaps Obuchi would also like to take part in Clinton-style Town Meetings. Obuchi was keen, but the plan was scuppered due to opposition from the kisha club, and in the end Sori to Kataru continued to be shown in the same format as before. (Chikushi related these events in his book, Newscaster. Incidentally, Chikushi is known for having a critical stance towards kisha clubs.)
In 1999, there was an incident where some members of the media had a row with staff at the Ministry of Agriculture, Farming and Fisheries over the display of a Japanese flag at the meeting hall of the ministry kisha club. This was just after the was passed, in the midst of a debate about whether the government was forcing groups to display flags. In response to actions by some sections of the media, there was criticism from both those in favor of the National Flag and National Anthem Law and those against, including comments such as "They shouldn't be making a scene inside Ministry buildings in the first place" and "Isn't this just a sign of the egotism
of kisha clubs?"
In 2000, the then Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi
suddenly made telephone calls to Nippon TV and TV Asahi
, and was allowed to appear live on these channels. The related kisha clubs criticized TV Asahi, saying that this was "unprecedented". (Nippon TV was not criticized.)
On June 25, 2000, some notes titled "A personal view on tomorrow's press conference" were found lying on the ground at the , a kisha club in the grounds of the Japanese Prime Minister's official residence. This was the day before the meeting at which Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori
was due to make an explanation about his "Kami no kuni" statements about religion in Japan, and the notes appeared to be a set of directions to the Prime Minister on how to handle questions from the media. Even though weekly news magazines published the name of the media organization (NHK
) responsible for writing the document, the Cabinet Kisha Club did not take an active efforts to investigate the cause of the incident. The format in which the document was printed was the same as that of "communication e-mails" from the 5300 system terminals used for printing NHK stories, and the document also contained a term meaning "private broadcasters", , which was only likely to have been used by NHK.
There has been criticism that the main work of reporters in a press room tends to be to summarize the contents of press conferences, so that they neglect to check whether what is announced is true and are more easily subject to media manipulation
, and that this leads to fewer reporters learning to go out to different locations to do research. Akira Uozumi, a former Kyōdō News
journalist, stated that kisha clubs slowly wear down reporters psychologically, and blunt their instincts as journalists, saying (in the Asahi Shimbun, on May 26, 2001), that "if 70% or 80% of your job is collecting secondary or tertiary information from government agencies as quickly as possible, it dulls your instinct for sensing what is actually going on in the world. Before you know it, the logic of the civil servants works its way into you, and it gets more difficult to think from the point of view of the people being governed. I thought it wasn't happening to me, but five years after becoming freelance, I gradually began to realize it was." As a result of this, most media reports are reports of announcements to kisha clubs, a phenomenon unthinkable in a developed country. In addition, there is criticism that the kisha club system decreases the distance between reporters and politicians, leading to improper relationships. As proof of this, Tarō Kawano, a member of the House of Representatives, has said that it is normal for reporters (from the Japanese media) to have meals paid for by politicians (which would never happen in any other developed country), that when politicians go on visits reporters stay in the same hotel, and that the media consider that the sign of a "good reporter" is when "the reporter and the politicians are the best of friends". (Quoted in by , published by . In addition, during the Matsumoto sarin incident, reports based on information given by the Metropolitan Police to a kisha club treated the first witness as a criminal.
There is also the criticism that kisha club are exclusive by nature, and rarely allow representatives of the new media, the foreign media or freelance journalists to join. In response to this, the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association introduced a policy whereby members from the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan
would be treated in the same way as members from the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association, and in the late 1990s admitted Reuters as a member of the Kabuto Club. Since then, foreign-owned media organizations such as Bloomberg and Dow Jones with large-scale information-gathering networks have joined the majority of kisha clubs, and are involved in their administration. However, this has only been possible for a handful of foreign-owned media organizations, and as most foreign media organizations with representatives in Tokyo have only a few reporters there, it is impossible for them to have reporters join and remain present at kisha clubs. In fact, the EU has criticised kisha clubs for being exclusive, and the opinion has been stated that the kisha club system should be abolished, and all journalists with a reporter's pass issued by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs allowed to collect material for stories at public institutions. This exclusivity is the reason why foreign journalists were not allowed to attend the police conference on the disappearance and murder of the British woman Lucie Blackman, and that when Prime Minister Koizumi
visited the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, non-members of the kisha club were not allowed to accompany him. (Statement by Private Secretary Isao Iijima.) Reporters Without Borders
, a journalists' organization which campaigns to protect the rights of journalists to freedom of speech, is calling for the Japanese government to abolish the kisha club system.
, the head of the Japan Renewal Party
, undertook a groundbreaking experiment by allowing magazine reporters not in the kisha club to participate in press conferences, but this never took off, in part due to disagreements between Ozawa and the media.
In 2002, the then head of the Democratic Party of Japan
, Katsuya Okada
, introduced a format of press conference where all types of media, including sports newspapers, weekly magazines and foreign media organizations, could take part. Until then, only media in the could take part.
Some heads of local public bodies, business or financial groups have also closed press rooms, having realized the disadvantages of the kisha club system.
In June 1993, the , the kisha club for the Tokyo Stock Exchange
, reformed its rules, which until then had restricted membership to Japanese media organizations, to include "foreign media organizations which perform media work equivalent to that of the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association", a move which in practice opened the door to foreign media organizations.
In April 1996, the city of Kamakura, Kanagawa
stopped using the , which had six companies as members, including national newspapers and the local Kanagawa Shimbun, and opened a "Publicity media center" which could be used by any media organization registered with the city. The then mayor, Ken Takeuchi
, formerly of the editing committee of the Asahi Shimbun
, and currently head of the internet newspaper "janjan", stated that this was done as it was felt that "it was not reasonable for a city institution funded by tax money to be monopolized by a kisha club which represented only one section of the media".
In March 1999, the was closed, at the request of Keidanren, the organization controlling it. This kisha club was focused on reporting related to industrial work such as electrical machinery, shipbuilding, semiconductors and automobiles. There was debate between the media and the companies making announcements about continuing with the kisha club, but as no breakthrough solution was found, the club was dissolved. It is thought that the root cause of this event was that electrical makers had been conducting open press conferences, and using press releases and e-mail
, so there were no longer advantages to using a kisha club. The automobile industry, wanting to keep a kisha club active, opened an automobile industry kisha club as part of the , but the Asahi, Yomiuri, Mainichi and Nikkei newspapers refused to join, in effect depriving the club of its function.
In July 1999, NTT
's kisha club, was closed as a result of structural changes at NTT. This club had in the past been subject to criticism for the fact that it was a club dedicated to a single private company, but after the restructuring by NTT, a group of economic editors assembled from the different media companies agreed not to accept the Aoi Club as a kisha club. NTT accepted this and closed the club, with the aim of opening the press room to organizations other than club members, including magazines and the overseas media.
On August 6, 2001, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government requested that the Kajibashi/Yūraku kisha club pay charges for using the Tokyo government offices, but later retracted this, instead requiring only lighting, heating, water and telephone charges to be paid. The Governor of Tokyo, Shintarō Ishihara
, also questioned the policy of not allowing magazines or foreign media organizations to participate in press conferences.
On March 30, 2004, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a written request to the central government offices, the offices of each prefecture, the police and other bodies, asking them to allow foreign reporters to participate in press conferences.
On March 14, 2006, due to the harsh financial circumstances it was facing, the Hokkaidō
government decided to request payments for lighting, heating, water and other costs, totaling approximately 2.5 million yen, from the , starting from the new financial year.
, announced a "Declaration of the End of Our Kisha Club System". He closed the three kisha clubs within the prefectural offices, and opened a press center which anyone could use, called the .
The purpose of this was to end the monopoly of the large media companies on information; however, it was fiercely criticized by these companies, and it is reported that this action has resulted in a feud with large media companies both inside and outside the prefecture.
On October 3, 2006, the current mayor, Hitoshi Murai, announced that the "Expression Center" would be renamed the . In the same way as Tanaka, he allowed members of the public to participate in conferences, subject to submitting an application.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police kisha clubs
, there are also kisha clubs similar to those in Japan, which are thought to exist as an aftereffect of the period of Japanese rule. There has also been criticism of the negative effects of these clubs in South Korea. There have been incidents which have served to hasten the dismantling of kisha clubs. These include reforms by the media itself, such as the event on June 11, 2001 when 11 local newspapers attending government offices in Seongnam
, Gyeonggi-do
, including the "Kyongin Ilbo" and "Jeonmae", disbanded the club and withdrew from the conference room, and events such as that in the same year, where the internet newspaper OhmyNews
was expelled from a press conference at Incheon International Airport
, and issued a lawsuit appealing against its expulsion.
In 2003, due to a policy by President Roh Moo-hyun, the kisha club at the Presidential residence, the Blue House
, has been disbanded, and a conference room open to internet media and foreign media organizations set up, so that anyone who registers can attend.
In America
, while there are a few clubs which are relatively similar to Japanese kisha clubs, such as the club in the Department of Defense
, unlike Japan these have a salon
atmosphere. At the White House
, there are secret meetings known as "briefings", to which only specific members of the major mass media companies are invited. However, beside these, there are also press conferences, which any journalist issued with a press pass
can attend. On the other hand, in order to obtain a press pass, journalists have to undergo strict security checks from all departments, and the process can take several months. Recently, blog
gers reporting news from internet blogs have been issued press passes, which attracted much attention, but it was also found that a reporters from a conservative news website was also running an illegal pornography website, provoking criticism in that the security checks were not good enough to discover the reporter's illegal transactions.
In the United Kingdom
, until recently only reporters with press passes for the Houses of Parliament were allowed to attend briefings, but since Tony Blair
took power, freelance journalists have been allowed to participate. In addition, before this reform, briefings were treated as being off the record.
In France
, any journalist may be issued with a press card, but in order to receive this, journalists must undergo an investigation by the "press card committee" which issues the cards. With this card, a journalist can enter the President's residence (the Élysée Palace
and attend press conferences at any Ministry.
In 2002, when reports were made about the problem of (the so-called secret Cabinet fund), it was discovered that at end-of-year parties, New Year parties and at the start of holiday tours, the Chief Cabinet Secretary
handed to reporters, and this was paid for from the Cabinet Payment Fund.
In 2005, it was found by the city council of Tatebayashi City that the lunches at the regular press conferences held by the mayor of Tatebayashi City and media companies was paid for from public expenses. The city announced the intention of ending these payments.
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
, or corporate bodies.
Institutions with a kisha club limit their press conferences to the journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s of that club, and membership rules for kisha clubs are restrictive. This limits access by domestic magazines and the foreign media, as well as freelance reporters
Stringer (journalism)
In journalism, a stringer is a type of freelance journalist or photographer who contributes reports or photos to a news organization on an ongoing basis but is paid individually for each piece of published or broadcast work....
, to the press conferences.
While similar arrangements exist in all countries, the Japanese form of this type of organization has characteristics unique to Japan, and hence the Japanese term is used in other languages.
History
1890- In response to the ban imposed by the first Imperial DietDiet of JapanThe is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally...
on reporting by newspaper reporters, a reporter from the newspaper called together the Diet correspondents from the Tokyo newspapers to form a , which in October merged with newspaper companies across Japan, changing its name to the , to become the first kisha club.
March 1941
- With the formation of the , a newspaper control organization, the number of kisha clubs was reduced to one third, and kisha clubs were forbidden from governing themselves.
October 26, 1949
- The created a "Policy on Kisha Clubs", stating that they were "an organization for the purpose of socialization, and are not to intervene in matters related to reporting".
December 1997
- The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association changed this policy, stating that kisha clubs were "bases for reporting" which allowed easy access to information held by public bodies.
March 24, 2005
- LivedoorLivedooris an Internet service provider based in Tokyo, Japan, that runs a web portal and numerous other businesses. The company was founded and led in its first 10 years by Takafumi Horie, known as "Horiemon" in Japan...
became the first Internet media company to apply for membership of the Japan Meteorological AgencyJapan Meteorological AgencyThe or JMA, is the Japanese government's weather service. Charged with gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts in Japan, it is a semi-autonomous part of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport...
kisha club. - However, on March 15, 2006, the former president of Livedoor, Takafumi HorieTakafumi Horieis a Japanese entrepreneur who founded Livedoor, a website design operation that grew into a popular internet portal. After being arrested on accusations of securities fraud in 2006, he severed all connections with the company. He was granted bail, and the trial began on September 4, 2006...
, was charged with a breach of the , and for this reason the application was rejected unanimously by the companies present.
July 9, 2005
- The freelance journalist and the deputy editor of the weekly magazine submitted an application for a provisional ruling against the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and the 15 companies in the related kisha club to the Tokyo District CourtTokyo District Courtis a district court located at 1-1-4 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. -References:...
and Tokyo High CourtTokyo High Courtis a high court in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The Intellectual Property High Court is a special branch of Tokyo High Court....
, stating that groups such as kisha clubs must not be allowed to obstruct journalists wishing to attend at the offices of the Metropolitan Police and give questions, but the application was refused. A special appeal is being made to the Tokyo High Court.
November 8, 2005
- When a journalist from NHK Ōtsu Office was arrested in relation to an arson incident, the offices of the Shiga Prefecture Police kisha club to which he belonged were searched by the Shiga Prefecture Police.
Reporting agreements
Kisha clubs often make agreements on reporting, which are known as because they are communicated via a blackboard in a press room.The aim of making reporting agreements is often to avoid excessive competition during reporting. Agreements may also be made based on a request by, for example, the police, to protect the victims in cases such as kidnappings.
Magazine kisha clubs
In 1956, the association was set up, containing " and , formed from member companies, to expedite the reporting activities related to magazine editing".Advantages of kisha clubs
Setting up a kisha club allows bodies such as government agencies to communicate official announcements rapidly to the media. In particular, it simplifies reporting in the case where the body giving the report gives the time of the announcement to the club. At the same time, it is possible to set up transmission equipment for each media company in the press room, reducing the time taken between gathering information and editing. If, for example, local authorities want to provide information, it is easy to convey it by communicating with the kisha club for a higher-level body.Defenders of the system also argue that the kisha clubs' influence is used to open up the institution they are covering to scrutiny, although this argument would seem self-contradictory.
Disadvantages of kisha clubs
This type of organization only exists in Japan. Allowing specific newspaper companies or broadcasting stations to have a monopoly on reporting makes it easy to manipulate information. Smaller media companies, freelance journalists and foreign news organizations are often blocked from joining kisha clubs, and kisha clubs increase the chances of an improper relationship with the subjects of the reporting. For these reasons, kisha clubs have been criticized both in Japan and overseas as a symbol of the lack of openness to external groups and feudalistic nature of Japanese systems.There are also cases of regulations imposed by kisha clubs on reporting at off the record
Off the Record
"Off the record" is a term related to journalism sourcing; see Journalism sourcing#Using confidential information.Off the record may also refer to:- Music :* Off the Record , a 1977 album by Sweet...
occasions such as informal conventions. If these regulations are broken, the offender is often subject to penalties, such as being forbidden from attending the kisha club.
There is criticism that press rooms set up for kisha clubs by government agencies, local public bodies and the police are paid for with tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
es, but can only be used by the member companies, leading to corruption. If local government agencies are included, the total yearly costs are thought to run to 600 million yen.
In 1921, a gas company bribed the to gain approval for a rise in gas prices. It was discovered that newspaper reporters attending the city hall
City hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...
and Tokyo Metropolitan Police kisha clubs had also been bribed, an event condemned by public opinion. (The Tokyo Gas suspected bribery incident.)
In 1974, when the weekly magazine Bungei Shunshū reported on the Kakuei Tanaka funding problem, the allegations were already well known in the kisha club but the media was silent about the story.
In 1998, during the broadcast on TBS
Tokyo Broadcasting System
, TBS Holdings, Inc. or TBSHD, is a stockholding company in Tokyo, Japan. It is a parent company of a television network named and radio network named ....
of the TV program , "A Conversation with the Prime Minister", News 23 anchor Tetsuya Chikushi
Tetsuya Chikushi
was a Japanese journalist, TV presenter and news anchor.- Career :Chikushi was born in Hita, Ōita Prefecture on 23 June 1935. He graduated from Waseda University's school of political science and economics, and joined the Asahi Shimbun newspaper in 1959 as a reporter.He worked for the Asahi...
suggested to the Prime Minister of the time, Keizō Obuchi
Keizo Obuchi
was a Japanese politician who served in the House of Representatives for twelve terms, and ultimately as the 84th Prime Minister of Japan from July 30, 1998 to April 5, 2000. His political career ended when he suffered a serious and ultimately fatal stroke....
that, given the success of the Town Meeting
Town meeting
A town meeting is a form of direct democratic rule, used primarily in portions of the United States since the 17th century, in which most or all the members of a community come together to legislate policy and budgets for local government....
s held by President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, also shown by TBS, perhaps Obuchi would also like to take part in Clinton-style Town Meetings. Obuchi was keen, but the plan was scuppered due to opposition from the kisha club, and in the end Sori to Kataru continued to be shown in the same format as before. (Chikushi related these events in his book, Newscaster. Incidentally, Chikushi is known for having a critical stance towards kisha clubs.)
In 1999, there was an incident where some members of the media had a row with staff at the Ministry of Agriculture, Farming and Fisheries over the display of a Japanese flag at the meeting hall of the ministry kisha club. This was just after the was passed, in the midst of a debate about whether the government was forcing groups to display flags. In response to actions by some sections of the media, there was criticism from both those in favor of the National Flag and National Anthem Law and those against, including comments such as "They shouldn't be making a scene inside Ministry buildings in the first place" and "Isn't this just a sign of the egotism
Egotism
Egotism is "characterized by an exaggerated estimate of one's intellect, ability, importance, appearance, wit, or other valued personal characteristics" – the drive to maintain and enhance favorable views of oneself....
of kisha clubs?"
In 2000, the then Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi
Keizo Obuchi
was a Japanese politician who served in the House of Representatives for twelve terms, and ultimately as the 84th Prime Minister of Japan from July 30, 1998 to April 5, 2000. His political career ended when he suffered a serious and ultimately fatal stroke....
suddenly made telephone calls to Nippon TV and TV Asahi
TV Asahi
, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....
, and was allowed to appear live on these channels. The related kisha clubs criticized TV Asahi, saying that this was "unprecedented". (Nippon TV was not criticized.)
On June 25, 2000, some notes titled "A personal view on tomorrow's press conference" were found lying on the ground at the , a kisha club in the grounds of the Japanese Prime Minister's official residence. This was the day before the meeting at which Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori
Yoshiro Mori
is a Japanese politician who served as the 85th and 86th Prime Minister of Japan starting at 5 April 2000 ending 26 April 2001. Described as having "the heart of a flea and the brain of a shark," he was an unpopular prime minister mainly remembered today for his many gaffes and situationally...
was due to make an explanation about his "Kami no kuni" statements about religion in Japan, and the notes appeared to be a set of directions to the Prime Minister on how to handle questions from the media. Even though weekly news magazines published the name of the media organization (NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
) responsible for writing the document, the Cabinet Kisha Club did not take an active efforts to investigate the cause of the incident. The format in which the document was printed was the same as that of "communication e-mails" from the 5300 system terminals used for printing NHK stories, and the document also contained a term meaning "private broadcasters", , which was only likely to have been used by NHK.
There has been criticism that the main work of reporters in a press room tends to be to summarize the contents of press conferences, so that they neglect to check whether what is announced is true and are more easily subject to media manipulation
Media manipulation
Media manipulation is an aspect of public relations in which partisans create an image or argument that favours their particular interests. Such tactics may include the use of logical fallacies and propaganda techniques, and often involve the suppression of information or points of view by crowding...
, and that this leads to fewer reporters learning to go out to different locations to do research. Akira Uozumi, a former Kyōdō News
Kyodo News
is a nonprofit cooperative news agency based in Minato, Tokyo. It was established in November 1945 and it distributes news to almost all newspapers, and radio and television networks in Japan. The newspapers using its news have about 50 million subscribers. K. K. Kyodo News is Kyodo News' business...
journalist, stated that kisha clubs slowly wear down reporters psychologically, and blunt their instincts as journalists, saying (in the Asahi Shimbun, on May 26, 2001), that "if 70% or 80% of your job is collecting secondary or tertiary information from government agencies as quickly as possible, it dulls your instinct for sensing what is actually going on in the world. Before you know it, the logic of the civil servants works its way into you, and it gets more difficult to think from the point of view of the people being governed. I thought it wasn't happening to me, but five years after becoming freelance, I gradually began to realize it was." As a result of this, most media reports are reports of announcements to kisha clubs, a phenomenon unthinkable in a developed country. In addition, there is criticism that the kisha club system decreases the distance between reporters and politicians, leading to improper relationships. As proof of this, Tarō Kawano, a member of the House of Representatives, has said that it is normal for reporters (from the Japanese media) to have meals paid for by politicians (which would never happen in any other developed country), that when politicians go on visits reporters stay in the same hotel, and that the media consider that the sign of a "good reporter" is when "the reporter and the politicians are the best of friends". (Quoted in by , published by . In addition, during the Matsumoto sarin incident, reports based on information given by the Metropolitan Police to a kisha club treated the first witness as a criminal.
There is also the criticism that kisha club are exclusive by nature, and rarely allow representatives of the new media, the foreign media or freelance journalists to join. In response to this, the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association introduced a policy whereby members from 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....
would be treated in the same way as members from the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association, and in the late 1990s admitted Reuters as a member of the Kabuto Club. Since then, foreign-owned media organizations such as Bloomberg and Dow Jones with large-scale information-gathering networks have joined the majority of kisha clubs, and are involved in their administration. However, this has only been possible for a handful of foreign-owned media organizations, and as most foreign media organizations with representatives in Tokyo have only a few reporters there, it is impossible for them to have reporters join and remain present at kisha clubs. In fact, the EU has criticised kisha clubs for being exclusive, and the opinion has been stated that the kisha club system should be abolished, and all journalists with a reporter's pass issued by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs allowed to collect material for stories at public institutions. This exclusivity is the reason why foreign journalists were not allowed to attend the police conference on the disappearance and murder of the British woman Lucie Blackman, and that when Prime Minister Koizumi
Junichiro Koizumi
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics when his term in parliament ended.Widely seen as a maverick leader of the Liberal Democratic Party , he became known as an economic reformer, focusing on Japan's government debt and the...
visited the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, non-members of the kisha club were not allowed to accompany him. (Statement by Private Secretary Isao Iijima.) Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
, a journalists' organization which campaigns to protect the rights of journalists to freedom of speech, is calling for the Japanese government to abolish the kisha club system.
Moves to abolish kisha clubs
At a national level, in 1994, Ichirō OzawaIchiro Ozawa
is a Japanese politician. Formerly a chief secretary of the Liberal Democratic Party , he later defected from the LDP. He was the president of Japan's main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan , from 2006 until May 2009, when he resigned over a fund scandal, and secretary general of the...
, the head of the Japan Renewal Party
Japan Renewal Party
The Japan Renewal Party was a Japanese political party that existed in the early 1990s. It was founded in 1993 by 44 members of the Liberal Democratic Party led by Tsutomu Hata and Ichirō Ozawa...
, undertook a groundbreaking experiment by allowing magazine reporters not in the kisha club to participate in press conferences, but this never took off, in part due to disagreements between Ozawa and the media.
In 2002, the then head of the Democratic Party of Japan
Democratic Party of Japan
The is a political party in Japan founded in 1998 by the merger of several opposition parties. Its socially liberal platform is generally considered center-left in the Japanese political spectrum...
, Katsuya Okada
Katsuya Okada
is a Japanese politician. A member of the House of Representatives of Japan, he is Secretary-General of the Democratic Party of Japan and was previously its President. From September 2009 to September 2010, he was Foreign Minister of Japan....
, introduced a format of press conference where all types of media, including sports newspapers, weekly magazines and foreign media organizations, could take part. Until then, only media in the could take part.
Some heads of local public bodies, business or financial groups have also closed press rooms, having realized the disadvantages of the kisha club system.
In June 1993, the , the kisha club for the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Tokyo Stock Exchange
The , called or TSE for short, is located in Tokyo, Japan and is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies...
, reformed its rules, which until then had restricted membership to Japanese media organizations, to include "foreign media organizations which perform media work equivalent to that of the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association", a move which in practice opened the door to foreign media organizations.
In April 1996, the city of Kamakura, Kanagawa
Kamakura, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...
stopped using the , which had six companies as members, including national newspapers and the local Kanagawa Shimbun, and opened a "Publicity media center" which could be used by any media organization registered with the city. The then mayor, Ken Takeuchi
Ken Takeuchi
is a Japanese voice actor who works for Arts Vision.Takeuchi learned voice acting in Institute of Japan Narration Act. In 2000, Takeuchi debuted as a main character in Photogenic , after then he was playing minor roles for a while. However, in 2003, Takeuchi played as one of main characters,...
, formerly of the editing committee of 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...
, and currently head of the internet newspaper "janjan", stated that this was done as it was felt that "it was not reasonable for a city institution funded by tax money to be monopolized by a kisha club which represented only one section of the media".
In March 1999, the was closed, at the request of Keidanren, the organization controlling it. This kisha club was focused on reporting related to industrial work such as electrical machinery, shipbuilding, semiconductors and automobiles. There was debate between the media and the companies making announcements about continuing with the kisha club, but as no breakthrough solution was found, the club was dissolved. It is thought that the root cause of this event was that electrical makers had been conducting open press conferences, and using press releases and e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
, so there were no longer advantages to using a kisha club. The automobile industry, wanting to keep a kisha club active, opened an automobile industry kisha club as part of the , but the Asahi, Yomiuri, Mainichi and Nikkei newspapers refused to join, in effect depriving the club of its function.
In July 1999, NTT
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
, commonly known as NTT, is a Japanese telecommunications company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Ranked the 31st in Fortune Global 500, NTT is the largest telecommunications company in Asia, and the second-largest in the world in terms of revenue....
's kisha club, was closed as a result of structural changes at NTT. This club had in the past been subject to criticism for the fact that it was a club dedicated to a single private company, but after the restructuring by NTT, a group of economic editors assembled from the different media companies agreed not to accept the Aoi Club as a kisha club. NTT accepted this and closed the club, with the aim of opening the press room to organizations other than club members, including magazines and the overseas media.
On August 6, 2001, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government requested that the Kajibashi/Yūraku kisha club pay charges for using the Tokyo government offices, but later retracted this, instead requiring only lighting, heating, water and telephone charges to be paid. The Governor of Tokyo, Shintarō Ishihara
Shintaro Ishihara
is a Japanese author, actor, politician and the governor of Tokyo since 1999.- Early life and artistic career :Shintarō was born in Suma-ku, Kobe. His father Kiyoshi was an employee, later a general manager, of a shipping company. Shintarō grew up in Zushi...
, also questioned the policy of not allowing magazines or foreign media organizations to participate in press conferences.
On March 30, 2004, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a written request to the central government offices, the offices of each prefecture, the police and other bodies, asking them to allow foreign reporters to participate in press conferences.
On March 14, 2006, due to the harsh financial circumstances it was facing, the Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
government decided to request payments for lighting, heating, water and other costs, totaling approximately 2.5 million yen, from the , starting from the new financial year.
Nagano Prefecture's "Declaration of the End of Our Kisha Club System"
On May 15, 2001, the former Mayor of Nagano, Yasuo TanakaYasuo Tanaka
is a Japanese novelist and politician. He served as the governor of Nagano prefecture from 2000 to 2006, became president of New Party Nippon and has been elected to Japan's legislatures.- Early life :...
, announced a "Declaration of the End of Our Kisha Club System". He closed the three kisha clubs within the prefectural offices, and opened a press center which anyone could use, called the .
The purpose of this was to end the monopoly of the large media companies on information; however, it was fiercely criticized by these companies, and it is reported that this action has resulted in a feud with large media companies both inside and outside the prefecture.
On October 3, 2006, the current mayor, Hitoshi Murai, announced that the "Expression Center" would be renamed the . In the same way as Tanaka, he allowed members of the public to participate in conferences, subject to submitting an application.
Major kisha clubs
In addition to the kisha clubs listed below, there are clubs for the government of each prefecture.- The kisha club within the Tokyo Stock Exchange. In principle, companies make announcements about events which are likely to have a major effect on share prices at this club.
- The kisha club of the former Japanese National RailwaysJapanese National Railways, abbreviated or "JNR", was the national railway network of Japan from 1949 to 1987.-History:The term Kokuyū Tetsudō "state-owned railway" originally referred to a network of railway lines operated by nationalized companies under the control of the Railway Institute following the nationalization...
. At present, it is at the head offices of JR East Japan. As most reporters concerned with transport normally work at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, few are permanently stationed at the Tokiwa club. During his time as a reporter with the Asahi ShimbunAsahi ShimbunThe 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...
, Naoki TanemuraNaoki Tanemurais a Japanese writer, essayist and critic. He calls himself a "railway writer". He has published commentaries on railways and travel writings including mysteries....
belonged to the club, and the fiction he wrote as a railway writer contained several names which were variations on the name "Tokiwa".
- The kisha club of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Reporters from the mass media in Japan and overseas are stationed here.
- This kisha club was formed from a union of the clubs for the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Construction and National Land Agency
- Its nature as a combination of different groups can often be observed; for example, a reporter covering traffic policy may be sitting next to a reporter covering the disposal of debts by general construction companies.
- A kisha club at the Japan Iron and Steel Federation in Chūō, Tokyo. Despite its location, resident reporters cover a range of industries, including metals other than steel, chemistry, textiles, rubber, paper, glass, cosmetics, personal care goods (such as those from Lion or Kaō), pharmaceuticals and apparel. It has the widest rance of areas covered of any kisha club.
- Because of its name, it is often wrongly thought to be a club covering businesses such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries or Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries.
- A club in Honseki-chō, Nihonbashi, Tokyo, which serves as a base for reporters covering the textile and paper industries.
- It is not an official club, but a subdivision of the heavy industries club, with which it merged in 2002.
- This is a club within the Bank of Japan, whose resident reporters cover not only the Bank itself but also private organizations such as banks and insurance agencies.
- Initially, this was a subdivision of the Keidan Kikai Club, but became a club in its own right when the Kikai Club closed in 1999.
- However, the four major newspapers, the Nikkei, Asahi, Yomiuri and Mainichi, decided not to participate in it, it is not recognized as a kisha club by the Newspaper Association.
- The Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun, which is not a member of the Newspaper Association, is a resident company at the automobile club.
- The kisha club at the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Marunouchi, Tokyo.
- This club was established with the aim of allowing the mass media to report on small businesses. However, in practice, there is next to no reporting on small businesses, and instead it is a base for reporting on the delivery, service, non-banking financial and food businesses. The Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry has repeatedly expressed discontent about this, and asked for it to be used to report on small businesses, but this has not come about.
- For this reason, the relationship between the media and the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry concerning the running of the club has not always been a close one, and there have often been rumors that the club may close.
- A kisha club within the official residence of the Japanese Prime Minister. In recent times, it has often been referred to as the , but its official name is . Reporters belonging to this club report mainly on the Prime Minister, Chief Cabinet Secretary, Deputy Cabinet Secretary, the official residence and the cabinet.
- A club at the House of Representatives in the National Diet with the six Tokyo television stations (NHK, Nippon TV, TBS, Fuji TV, TV Asahi and TV Tokyo) as members. It is the only club in Japan which is exclusively for television news camera operators.
- A club within the House of Representatives which is exclusively for radio news journalists. Its official name is the . It is mainly used for recording press conferences or ぶらさがり取材.
- NHK is not a member of this club, as its radio news uses the audio from its television news.
- A kisha club with offices inside the headquarters of the LDP and at the House of Representatives. The reporters belonging to this club report mainly on the LDP and New Komeito.
- The club inside the LDP headquarters is referred to as , and the club at the House of Representatives is known as . Reporters from the Hirakawa generally attend the club at the House when the Diet is in session, and the HQ when it is out of session.
- A club at the House of Representatives in the National Diet. Reporters at this club cover mainly the DPJ, Japanese Communist PartyJapanese Communist PartyThe Japanese Communist Party is a left-wing political party in Japan.The JCP advocates the establishment of a society based on socialism, democracy and peace, and opposition to militarism...
and SDPSocial Democratic Party (Japan)The Social Democratic Party The Social Democratic Party The Social Democratic Party (社会民主党 Shakai Minshu-tō, often abbreviated to 社民党 Shamin-tō; also known as the Social Democratic Party of Japan (abbreviated to SDPJ or SDP in English) is a political party that advocates for the establishment of a...
Tokyo Metropolitan Police kisha clubs
- Television reporters often say they are reporting "from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police kisha club", but this is not technically correct.
- Ignoring the industry newspaper, there are three kisha clubs at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
- The Asahi, Mainichi, Yomiuri, Tokyo, Nikkei and Kyōdō news companies are members of the「, which means "club of seven companies", as the Jiji Shinpō newspaper was once also a member. This club has the longest history of any of the clubs at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
- The NHK, Sankei, Jiji, Nippon Broadcasting, Nippon Cultural Broadcasting and MXTV companies are members of the . This is the smallest club, and in practice only the first three of these companies are resident.
- The five private broadcasters, Nippon TV, TBS, Fuji TV, TV Asahi and TV Tokyo, are members of the .
- These three clubs are run separately, with separate accounts.
- Since this is run by the reporters from the police kisha clubs, in practice there are no companies resident here.
- A kisha club related to the labor movement. In former times, organizations such as the General Council of Trade Unions of Japan provided information, and member newspaper and magazine reporters worked here. At present the Japanese Trade Union Confederation is involved. As two of the news companies, Rodo Joho and AkahataAkahatais the daily organ of the Japanese Communist Party in the form of a national newspaper. Started in 1928, Akahata has a 16-page daily edition and a larger 36-page Sunday edition....
reported on the massive debt incident and the trade union budget spending incident, by the former Japan Postal Workers' Union (now the JPU), the Postal Workers' Union blocked them from becoming members.
Kisha clubs in other countries
In South KoreaSouth Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, there are also kisha clubs similar to those in Japan, which are thought to exist as an aftereffect of the period of Japanese rule. There has also been criticism of the negative effects of these clubs in South Korea. There have been incidents which have served to hasten the dismantling of kisha clubs. These include reforms by the media itself, such as the event on June 11, 2001 when 11 local newspapers attending government offices in Seongnam
Seongnam
Seongnam is the second largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi province after Suwon and the 9th largest city in the country, with a population of nearly 1 million...
, Gyeonggi-do
Gyeonggi-do
Gyeonggi-do is the most populous province in South Korea. The provincial capital is located at Suwon. Seoul—South Korea's largest city and national capital—is located in the heart of the province, but has been separately administered as a provincial-level special city since 1946...
, including the "Kyongin Ilbo" and "Jeonmae", disbanded the club and withdrew from the conference room, and events such as that in the same year, where the internet newspaper OhmyNews
OhmyNews
OhmyNews is a South Korean online newspaper website with the motto "Every Citizen is a Reporter". It was founded by Oh Yeon Ho on February 22, 2000....
was expelled from a press conference at Incheon International Airport
Incheon International Airport
Incheon International Airport is the largest airport in South Korea, the primary airport serving the Seoul national capital area, and one of the largest and busiest airports in the world...
, and issued a lawsuit appealing against its expulsion.
In 2003, due to a policy by President Roh Moo-hyun, the kisha club at the Presidential residence, the Blue House
Cheong Wa Dae
The Cheongwadae or Blue House is the executive office and official residence of the South Korean head of state, the President of the Republic of Korea...
, has been disbanded, and a conference room open to internet media and foreign media organizations set up, so that anyone who registers can attend.
In America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, while there are a few clubs which are relatively similar to Japanese kisha clubs, such as the club in the Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
, unlike Japan these have a salon
Salon (gathering)
A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to...
atmosphere. At the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, there are secret meetings known as "briefings", to which only specific members of the major mass media companies are invited. However, beside these, there are also press conferences, which any journalist issued with a press pass
Press pass
A press pass grants some type of special privilege to journalists. Some cards have recognized legal status; others merely indicate that the bearer is a practicing journalist...
can attend. On the other hand, in order to obtain a press pass, journalists have to undergo strict security checks from all departments, and the process can take several months. Recently, blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
gers reporting news from internet blogs have been issued press passes, which attracted much attention, but it was also found that a reporters from a conservative news website was also running an illegal pornography website, provoking criticism in that the security checks were not good enough to discover the reporter's illegal transactions.
In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, until recently only reporters with press passes for the Houses of Parliament were allowed to attend briefings, but since Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
took power, freelance journalists have been allowed to participate. In addition, before this reform, briefings were treated as being off the record.
In France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, any journalist may be issued with a press card, but in order to receive this, journalists must undergo an investigation by the "press card committee" which issues the cards. With this card, a journalist can enter the President's residence (the Élysée Palace
Élysée Palace
The Élysée Palace is the official residence of the President of the French Republic, containing his office, and is where the Council of Ministers meets. It is located near the Champs-Élysées in Paris....
and attend press conferences at any Ministry.
Other details
Many of the kisha clubs in Japan hold joint informal events (such as end-of-year parties, summer parties and leaving parties) with local government agencies or company publicity departments. This is not illegal, but it is inappropriate behavior for journalists. It is said that the smaller the kisha club, the more pronounced this tendency is.In 2002, when reports were made about the problem of (the so-called secret Cabinet fund), it was discovered that at end-of-year parties, New Year parties and at the start of holiday tours, the Chief Cabinet Secretary
Chief Cabinet Secretary
__notoc__The of Japan is a Minister of State who is responsible for directing the Cabinet Secretariat. The main function of Chief Cabinet Secretary is to coordinate the policies of ministries and agencies in the executive branch...
handed to reporters, and this was paid for from the Cabinet Payment Fund.
In 2005, it was found by the city council of Tatebayashi City that the lunches at the regular press conferences held by the mayor of Tatebayashi City and media companies was paid for from public expenses. The city announced the intention of ending these payments.
Related links
- NewspaperNewspaperA newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s - TelevisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
- RadioRadioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
- Restrictions on free speech
- Press releases
- Vested interestVested interestVested interest is a communication theory that seeks to explain how influences impact behaviors. As defined by William Crano, vested interest refers to the amount that an attitude object is deemed hedonically relevant by the attitude holder...
s - Crime reporting