Young ruling party lawmakers and a best-selling novelist close to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lambasted the two leading dailies in Okinawa Prefecture for opposing the government’s U.S. military base relocation plan in the prefecture.
The Okinawa Times and The Ryukyu Shimpo “must be closed down by any means,” Naoki Hyakuta was quoted as telling a group of young Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers on June 25.
The lawmakers also said the government should “punish” media companies critical of its policies by depleting their advertising revenue through pressure on their sponsors.
At the first meeting of the LDP study group set up to discuss the Abe administration’s culture and art policies, a Diet member targeted the Okinawan newspapers that have staunchly opposed the government’s plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan to the Henoko district of Nago, also in the prefecture.
“They have been completely hijacked by left-wing forces,” the lawmaker said at the meeting held in the party’s headquarters in Tokyo.
Pointing his finger at The Okinawa Times and The Ryukyu Shimpo, the lawmaker said the government must make efforts to “reorient the contorted public opinion in Okinawa toward the right direction.”
“Okinawa’s distinctive media structure is a product of (the neglect of) corrupted conservatives in the postwar era,” the lawmaker said.
Hyakuta, a former governor at Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK), participated in the meeting as a lecturer.
“It is a matter of how people in Okinawa will wake up. Although this scenario must not happen, they will most definitely wake up if one of their islands is taken by China,” Hyakuta was quoted as saying by participants.
Opposition lawmakers and media representatives criticized Hyakuta’s remarks.
At a Lower House committee session on June 26, Manabu Terada, a member of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, described the comments as problematic.
When Abe was asked about Hyakuta’s remarks at the Diet session, the prime minister said it is a “matter of course” to respect the freedom of the media.
“The freedom of the media is very foundation of democratic governance,” Abe said.
According to sources, Hyakuta at the June 25 meeting also questioned the view that Okinawa has been a “victim” of Japan’s security policy, under which the southern island prefecture shoulders a disproportionate percentage of U.S. military installations in the country.
“The Futenma base was originally built among rice paddies. There was nothing else around it,” he was quoted as saying. “But people started settling in the area because it would give them business opportunities. I want to raise questions about those who purposely chose to settle in the area.”
He continued: “Is Okinawa truly a victim? I certainly think otherwise.”
Thirty-seven people, including Katsunobu Kato, a deputy chief Cabinet secretary, joined the discussion.
The meeting also heard proposals to impose stricter controls on television and other mainstream media.
“The most effective way to punish the mass media is to make them lose advertising revenue, and to do so, the government should apply pressure on Keidanren (Japan Business Federation),” said a participant at the meeting.
The panel, headed by Minoru Kihara, director of the LDP’s Youth Division, aims to strengthen the Abe administration’s ability to communicate with the public by using the voices of influential figures who support its policies.
“The government must publicize the names of television programs that it believes have a harmful influence and list the sponsors of the programs,” another lawmaker said.
Yoshikazu Shiohira, editor in chief of The Ryukyu Shimpo, said Hyakuta’s remarks are disturbing not only for Okinawa’s two main newspapers but also for all Japanese media.
“They pose a serious challenge and provocation against the freedom of reporting and expression by the domestic mass media as a whole. It is also regrettable that he fails to understand the reality of Okinawa in the least,” Shiohira said.
Kazuhiko Taketomi, editor in chief of The Okinawa Times, said Hyakuta’s statements “fundamentally lack recognition of the history of Okinawa’s media and people as a whole since World War II.”
“After the end of the war, newspapers in Okinawa started out based on the reflections of journalists who assisted in the war efforts. Our reporting principle is thus based on our determination to never again do reporting that would lead to warfare,” Taketomi said.
- « Prev
- 1
- Next »