The Japan Times: Media's slant on Japan irks expats in America September 30, 1998 (p.3) by Mayumi Negishi

"We talk of globalization, but the press is still surprisingly nation-oriented. It is dangerous when the press caters to and fuels the narrow sentiments among its readers," Otake said in an interview with The Japan Times....These stories only offer one-sided versions that strengthen

impressions of an incomprehensible Japan that may discourage dialogue and ultimately harm mutual understanding between Japanese and Americans, Otake said. "...(Journalists) should not think of themselves as Indiana Jones looking down and observing a show, without an obligation to learn about the society in which they are placed," she said...The publication's unexpected popularity resulted in a second printing two weeks after appearing in Japanese bookstores.
Asahi Evening News: Media/Tokyo correspondent under knife October 4, 1998 (Sunday Life: p.5) by Roy K. Akagawa

Much of the book's analysis appears to employ a microscope much more powerful than the eyes of the average New York Times reader, equipped with lenses refined and sharpened on a completely different Japanese grindstone...

"I didn't want the stories to end up being only a one-way flow," Otake said. "We wanted to bring about a more dynamic flow of information that could lead to better communication between the two peoples." For his part, Kristof said the book was a useful exercise in pushing
forward the debate on what journalism from a foreign nation should be like. "I think, all in all, it's a terrific thing," Kristof said." I disagree with a good deal of it, but I very much welcome the effort and it's a good thing to bring more discussion to the subject of what is appropriate journalism in covering a
The Daily Yomiuri: N.Y. Times accused of reinforcing stereotypes. October 7, 1998 (National A:p.3) by Miki Fujii

While fully aware that such reports are partially true and also that media coverage tends toward sensationalism, Otake's group is concerned about the inaccurate representation of Japanese society, which, she claims, is partly caused by foreign reporters' ignorance of the nation's culture and language. ..."What correspondents do anywhere is write about things that are different, whether that is in California, London or Brooklyn," (Kristof) explained....(Gregory) Clark (Tama University President and former journalist) said:" Excellent reporters are posted in Japan, but they do not understand the language. They end up reporting on the eccentric aspects of Japanese society ... Editors in the United States like such stories, readers love it, and as a result their coverage of Japan becomes biased." Clark thinks writing about Japan is difficult, and that is why young correspondents like Kristof pick unusual topics. If they do not, readers will not pay attention to them and fewer stories will make it into the paper.
Shukan ST: How foreign journalists portray Japan. November 6, 1998 (p.28) by Juliet Hindell

I have not read the book and probably write articles to which the group would take objection.
Mainichi Daily News: Zipangu vs. The New York Times -- Japan Rise in Defense of Their Country's image. November 16, 1998. Japanofile/Books Japan (B, p.6) by Mark Shreiber

Spot checks of the two halves of the book confirmed that translations from Japanese to English and vice versa are reasonably accurate, but ironically, the titles used are quite different. The English title is a rather ambiguous "Japan Made in U.S.A."; the Japanese half of the book is identified by the considerably more inflammatory "Warawareru Nihonjin -- New York Times ga Egaku Fukashigi na Nihon" (Ridiculed Japanese -- Inscrutable Japan as depicted by The New York Times)... Although, these responses to the NYT articles reflect the writers' anger, the book's overall approach is, to their credit, well-measured, civil and coherent...The book itself is not entirely one-sided. To the authors' credit, they include a 9-page interview with NYT's Tokyo Bureau Chief Nicholas D. Kristof that allows him to present his own side.

...Of course in this world of political correctness, articles that offend unnecessarily are to be avoided. Zipangu's complaints on the shortcomings of American journalism should not be ignored outright...While its glass-houses stance leaves flaws, "Japan Made in U.S.A." nevertheless deserves a once-over by anyone who reads, or writes, about Japan.
The Japan Times: Working out what's weird in Zipangu November 19, 1998, Media Mix, by Philip Brasor

"Japan Made in the U.S.A. (sic)," a bilingual book published in September by the Japanese expatriate organization Zipangu, has stirred up a fair amount of controversy in this and other local English dailies....If Zipangu thinks these topics (chikan and enjo kosai) are unworthy of the NYT, then I'd be curious to know its opinion of the TBS variety show "Koko ga Henda yo! Nihonjin" (Wed.,10p.m.) , a program in which Beat Takeshi and a panel of celebrities discuss with 100 resident foreigners the same type of subjects the NYT was criticized for covering. However you feel about the appropriateness of The Times; stories, they're still measured and sober. Takeshi's show is quite the opposite.
Japan Quarterly: Japanese Reflections In an American Mirror January-March, 1999, (pp.76-82), by Otake Hideko