Japan Times Caves To Shinzo Abe

The Japan Times joins NHK, Asahi Shinbun and the Yomiuri Shinbun  in capitulating  to Japan's conservative Liberal Democratic party in reporting on the many controversial policies and war crimes committed by the imperial government and the imperial army.  Shinzo Abe Japan's current Prime Minister has worked diligently to alter how the Japan's war time history is portrayed.  From out right denial to historical revisionism.  Perhaps, that's due to his grandfather (His hero) former Prime Minister Kishi, who was a member of Tojo's wartime cabinet. Serving as Minister for Arms Procurement.  

At the bottom of an article the Japan Times published following a court decision on forced labour in Seoul which ruled in favour of the plaintiffs. 

In a decision that critics said aligned it with the conservative agenda of the prime minister, Shinzō Abe, the Japan Times said it had used terms “that could have been potentially misleading” when reporting on the contentious subjects.

It was the latest media row about how to define notorious parts of the country’s wartime record.

The Japan Times said: “The term ‘forced labour’ has been used to refer to labourers who were recruited before and during world war two to work for Japanese companies. However, because the conditions they worked under or how these workers were recruited varied, we will henceforth refer to them as ‘wartime labourers.’”

The explanation appeared at the foot of an article about the South Korean supreme court’s decision this week to order Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to compensate 10 former forced labourers. The ruling, and a similar decision last month, have soured ties between Tokyo and Seoul, with Japan’s foreign minister, Tarō Kōno, calling them “totally unacceptable”.

Tokyo Olympics: When Newspapers Become Sponsoring Cheerleaders

The Japanese press is rather compliant in comparison to their western counterparts.  Self censorship and press club's known in Japan as Kisha ensure that any opposing view will be constrained by the need for inclusiveness and access to government press releases and officials.  You're asking why is this relevant? Because the four biggest newspapers in Japan became official sponsors of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games.  

On January 21 these publicans the Yomiuri Shinbun, Mainichi Shinbun, Nihon Keizai and the Asahi Shinbun announced in front page articles they had paid to become official sponsors of the games.  Usually one would view the press as arbiter of good governance and accountability over public funds being used for a private purpose.  With these four nationwide publicans agreeing to monetarily support the Olympics they have willingly abstained from their mission of holding the government and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Organizing Committee to transparency and accountability.


 Because it’s never too early to talk about how expensive the Olympics will be, Tokyo Shimbun pondered the question on Feb. 6 and found out that no one involved has a clue about the cost of the 2020 Games.

In 2007, the organizers of the 2012 London Olympics already had a good idea of how much they were going to pay — the equivalent of ¥1.6 trillion — and from that point the British government checked and revised the estimate every six months, and then made the figures public. In the end, their projection exceeded the actual amount paid by ¥60 billion.

Everyone Tokyo Shimbun asked shrugged. Last December, when news outlets reported that the cost of the games would be about ¥1.8 trillion, much more than the ¥350 billion Tokyo claimed when it made its initial bid, Toshiro Muto, the head of the organizing committee, said, “We don’t have a comprehensive expense estimate yet.” To gain some perspective, the paper asked an expert on public works projects, and he said that new projections for the construction of some venues are already three times their initial estimates.