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Sakhalin Surprise - Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan

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T H E F O R E I G N C O R R E S P O N D E N T S ’<br />

N U M B E R Shimbun<br />

VOLUME 37 ISSUE 10 NOVEMBER 2005 ¥500<br />

C L U B O F J A P A N<br />

<strong>Sakhalin</strong> <strong>Surprise</strong><br />

The FCCJ visits the Northern Territories<br />

INSIDE: KOIZUMI DELIVERS...ALMOST PAC ELECTION HIGHLIGHTS TOKYO VOTES


<strong>Japan</strong> Communist Party candidate Ken Nonoyama greets evening commuters outside Oji Station<br />

COVER STORY<br />

<strong>Sakhalin</strong> surprise 8<br />

by Jim Brooke<br />

ELECTION SPECIAL<br />

Koizumi delivers...almost 12<br />

by Anthony Fensom<br />

Weeklies watch 16<br />

by Chie Matsumoto<br />

PHOTO ESSAY<br />

Tokyo votes 14<br />

by Tony McNicol<br />

SPEAKER HIGHLIGHTS<br />

Takafumi Horie 17<br />

The <strong>Foreign</strong> Correspondents’ <strong>Club</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong><br />

Yurakucho Denki North Building 20Fl, 1-7-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo<br />

106-0006. Tel:(03)3211-3161, Fax:(03)3211-3168. www.fccj.or.jp<br />

Opinions expressed by Number One Shimbun contributors are not necessarily<br />

those <strong>of</strong> the publisher. Please pitch and send articles, or address<br />

comments to shimbun@fccj.or.jp<br />

CONTENTS l VOLUME 37 ISSUE 10 NOVEMBER 2005<br />

GREETINGS FROM THE EDITOR 5<br />

CONTRIBUTORS 5<br />

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN 7<br />

SPEAKER HIGHLIGHTS 18<br />

RECENT EVENTS 20<br />

NEW BOOK LIST 21<br />

UPCOMING EVENTS 21<br />

COMMITTEE MEMBERS 22<br />

NEW MEMBERS 22<br />

Published by: Alexandra Press, a division <strong>of</strong> Caroline Pover, Inc., Chuo<br />

Iikura Bldg 5F, 3-4-11 Azabudai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0041, <strong>Japan</strong>.<br />

Tel: (03) 5549-2038, Fax: (03) 5549-2039. info@alexandrapress.com<br />

Publisher: Caroline Pover; Production Manager: Josie Adams; Account<br />

Executive: Melanie Kamdar; Art Director: Sannah Nozoe.<br />

Please contact the publisher for advertising enquiries.<br />

FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN l NOVEMBER 2005 l<br />

Tony McNicol


C O R R E S P O N D E N T S ’<br />

NUMBER Shimbun<br />

VOLUME 37 ISSUE 10 NOVEMBER 2005 ¥500<br />

Publications Committee<br />

Chair & Number One Shimbun Editor<br />

Justin McCurry<br />

Assistant Editor David McNeill<br />

Board Liaison Khaldon Azhari<br />

Photo Coordinator Akiko Miyake<br />

Editorial Assistant Naomichi Iwamura<br />

FCCJ Board <strong>of</strong> Directors<br />

President Daniel Sloan, Reuters<br />

1st Vice President Khaldon Azhari, PETRA/<br />

CNBC Arabia<br />

2nd Vice President Pio d’Emilia, Il Manifesto<br />

Secretary Dennis Normile, Science<br />

Treasurer Yoshiyuki Iinuma, the Oriental Econ-<br />

omist<br />

1st Director James Brooke, the New York Times<br />

2nd Director Nobuko Hara, Times Educational<br />

Supplement<br />

3rd Director Miki Tanikawa, freelance<br />

4th Director Steve Herman, Voice <strong>of</strong> America<br />

Ex-<strong>of</strong>ficio Anthony Rowley, Business Times<br />

FCCJ Committee Chairs 2005–6<br />

60th Anniversary Robert Neff, Ge<strong>of</strong>frey Tudor<br />

Entertainment Glenn Davis<br />

Exhibitions Per Bodner<br />

Music Kei’ichiro Tominaga<br />

Finance Yoshisuke Iinuma<br />

Food & Beverage Bob Kirschenbaum,<br />

Gabrielle Kennedy<br />

House & Property Khaldon Azhari<br />

Human Resources Pio d’Emilia<br />

ITPC Khaldon Azhari<br />

Library, Archives & Workroom Jack Russell,<br />

Julian Ryall<br />

Membership Robert Neff, James Treece<br />

Membership Marketing Advisory<br />

Monzurul Huq<br />

Movie Joy Waitkus<br />

PAC Martyn Williams, Jim Brooke<br />

Swadesh DeRoy Scholarship and Young Jour-<br />

nalist Yukari Itatani-Kane, Alan Brender<br />

Special Project Haruko Watanabe<br />

WAC Atsuko DeRoy, Sandra Mori<br />

<strong>Foreign</strong> Press in <strong>Japan</strong> Richard Lloyd Parry<br />

General Manager S. Yoda<br />

GREETINGS l FROM THE EDITOR<br />

As Dan Sloan writes elsewhere in this issue, the club is about<br />

to celebrate its 60th anniversary. While the Number One Shimbun<br />

has, over the past three months, concentrated on issues<br />

that affect us pr<strong>of</strong>essionally rather than pay too much attention<br />

to the minutiae <strong>of</strong> club politics, the magazine would be<br />

wrong to overlook this particular landmark in our organization’s<br />

history.<br />

With impeccable timing, the club has excelled itself over<br />

the past month. Our programme <strong>of</strong> elections speakers, which<br />

included all <strong>of</strong> the major figures bar Koizumi himself (he declined<br />

our invitation) fuelled extensive coverage in the domestic<br />

and international media.<br />

And in the week before the election, Jim Brooke, Charles Pertwee and Marco Kauffmann<br />

made the trip north to <strong>Sakhalin</strong> to see how the Russian-held island is making use<br />

<strong>of</strong> its natural resources and its natural beauty. Were it not for the elections many more<br />

would have made the trip; this is, after all, just the kind <strong>of</strong> ambitious assignment we<br />

should be organizing regularly.<br />

It has always been our aim to involve as many different writers and photographers as<br />

possible in the Number One Shimbun. If you have an idea you think will be <strong>of</strong> interest to<br />

fellow journalists, please feel free to email me at justin.mccurry@guardian.co.uk<br />

Justin McCurry<br />

CONTRIBUTORS l IN THIS ISSUE<br />

JAMES B. BROOKE has been the Northeast Asia correspondent for the New York<br />

Times, covering <strong>Japan</strong> and the Koreas — with forays into Mongolia, the Pacific Islands<br />

and the Russian Far East — since August 2001. Brooke has worked for the New York Times<br />

for 23 years. He was Canada bureau chief 1999–2001; Rocky Mountain bureau chief,<br />

based in Denver 1995–1999; Brazil bureau chief 1989–1995, based in Rio de Janeiro;<br />

West Africa bureau chief 1986–1989, based in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. Before that he<br />

was a Metro reporter, an assistant to Washington columnist James Reston and South<br />

American correspondent for the Miami Herald. Brooke graduated from Yale University in<br />

1977, with a degree in Latin American Studies. He is president <strong>of</strong> the Yale <strong>Club</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong>.<br />

Brooke is married to Elizabeth Heilman Brooke, a freelance writer. They live in Tokyo<br />

with their three teenage sons, James, William and Alexander.<br />

CHARLES PERTWEE is a photographer based in Tokyo. His work has appeared<br />

in publications around the world, including the New York Times, the Boston Globe,<br />

the Times, Time, the International Herald Tribune, Bloomberg Markets, Marie Claire and<br />

Wired, among others. He is represented by Getty Images and his work can be viewed<br />

at www.pertwee.com<br />

ANTHONY FENSOM, born in Sydney, studied international business and finance<br />

and worked for the Australian Stock Exchange before arriving in <strong>Japan</strong> in 2000 to take<br />

up a job at the now-defunct Mainichi Daily News. He joined the Daily Yomiuri as a staff<br />

writer in January 2001.<br />

CHIE MATSUMOTO is a Tokyo-based journalist whose work has appeared in the<br />

International Herald Tribune, the Asahi Shimbun and other publications.<br />

TONY MCNICOL first came to <strong>Japan</strong> from England in 1998. Since then, he has<br />

spent time as an English teacher, a pro<strong>of</strong>reader in a tool company, a translator in the<br />

Diet, on the staff <strong>of</strong> a <strong>Japan</strong>ese newspaper in London, as a researcher at Tokyo University<br />

and, for the last two years, as a freelance writer and photographer. He writes on<br />

the <strong>Japan</strong>ese media and internet for www.japanmediareview.com, and contributes<br />

to publications including Wired, Discover, and the <strong>Japan</strong>ese edition <strong>of</strong> Newsweek. His<br />

work can be seen at www.tonymcnicol.com<br />

FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN l NOVEMBER 2005 l


60 Years young<br />

Dan Sloan<br />

Happy 60th birthday to us! And while in a congratulatory<br />

mood, may I add salutations to the United Nations, postwar<br />

peace in <strong>Japan</strong> and Thomas the Tank Engine.<br />

The last tribute was for my son, while at the other end <strong>of</strong> the<br />

generational spectrum, my father, a card-carrying member <strong>of</strong> the<br />

American Association <strong>of</strong> Retired Persons, says US media are now<br />

calling 60 the new 40, with 50 becoming the new 30, and so on.<br />

As someone who only recently started to identify himself<br />

as middle-aged, this flatters only too well, but recognizing<br />

there may be a wee bit <strong>of</strong> marketing involved, how about if we<br />

reverse the botox approach?<br />

In the case <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Foreign</strong> Correspondents’ <strong>Club</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong>,<br />

let’s tout our six decades <strong>of</strong> service as having left a fair share<br />

<strong>of</strong> wrinkles but also as having produced invaluable experience<br />

and perspective that are the envy <strong>of</strong> other FCC or pr<strong>of</strong>essional<br />

organizations.<br />

Indeed, much <strong>of</strong> that history was captured about 10 years<br />

ago in <strong>Foreign</strong> Correspondents in <strong>Japan</strong>: Reporting a Half Century<br />

<strong>of</strong> Upheavals: From 1945 to the Present, edited by Charles Pomeroy<br />

and featuring contributions from many leading members <strong>of</strong><br />

the club from that period.<br />

A new chapter is needed, one not only looking at the historical,<br />

political and economic issues <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong>’s “lost decade”<br />

as well as its current recovery, but also changes in the demographics<br />

<strong>of</strong> our club and its approach.<br />

During the recent general election, our distinguished list<br />

<strong>of</strong> speakers rivalled that <strong>of</strong> any domestic media platform (in<br />

fact it was better if you consider the Koike-Kobayashi debate<br />

and handshake, and Horie’s return from Hiroshima), while<br />

all event speeches and photographs were available free within<br />

hours on our homepage either directly or via our links to<br />

Videonews.<br />

Happy Hour at the FCCJ<br />

The <strong>Foreign</strong> Correspondents’ <strong>Club</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong> is looking to diversify<br />

its membership base. As a result, the Membership Marketing<br />

Committee cordially invites all regular and pr<strong>of</strong>essional journalist<br />

associate members to a Happy Hour in the main bar on the last<br />

Tuesday <strong>of</strong> the month. It’s a chance to unwind with friends and<br />

colleagues, and more importantly, to introduce prospective journalist<br />

members to the club. For every journalist guest you bring,<br />

who submits an application form, you will receive a free bottle <strong>of</strong><br />

wine. And keep in mind we’re not opposed to sending you home<br />

with half a case if six sign up at the event. So be generous with<br />

your friends and colleagues who would greatly benefit from club<br />

membership.<br />

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN l DAN SLOAN<br />

This is the kind <strong>of</strong><br />

technological leap is<br />

essential to promoting<br />

the club and the great<br />

work it performs, and<br />

sets the stage for an upgrade<br />

in our internet<br />

facade currently under<br />

consideration by<br />

our webmaster, David<br />

DuVerle and the ITPC<br />

group.<br />

Certainly, this is not<br />

the kind <strong>of</strong> tinkering one would expect from an organization<br />

in the throes <strong>of</strong> a midlife crisis. Rather, it shows that even<br />

as the oldest FCC in this region, and in much <strong>of</strong> the rest <strong>of</strong><br />

the world, we are extending pr<strong>of</strong>essional and social services to<br />

more than 2,000 members amid an ever-changing agenda.<br />

Another major issue is our facility itself and whether we<br />

want to remain in the Yurakucho Denki Building or need<br />

to explore other opportunities. A long-term renovation and<br />

housing committee has been launched under Director Miki<br />

Tanikawa and First Vice President Khaldon Azhari: they welcome<br />

your thoughts and energy.<br />

Moreover, we are a very young 60, revelling in our distinguished<br />

flecks <strong>of</strong> grey but knowing that a trip to the gym is in<br />

everyone’s interest.<br />

During the Diamond Anniversary celebrations over the<br />

next month, or at any time during this board’s tenure, please<br />

feel free to <strong>of</strong>fer suggestions on how we as an organization<br />

can stay in shape and devise a workout regimen that keeps<br />

you active.<br />

All drinks and snacks provided are free for one hour. Orders taken<br />

Miyake<br />

beyond the hour will be charged to members, and guests can buy<br />

Would you accept a drink from these men?<br />

chits at the reception desk. Akiko<br />

FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN l NOVEMBER 2005 l


COVER STORY l SAKHALIN<br />

<strong>Sakhalin</strong> surprise<br />

Known best as a territorial hangover from World War II, the Russian-held island is also a rich source <strong>of</strong> energy<br />

and an increasingly popular tourist destination, as JIM BROOKE discovered on a recent trip<br />

Local children hang out and swim in the Sea <strong>of</strong> Okhotsk at the port town <strong>of</strong> Korsakov, Russia<br />

Yes, <strong>Japan</strong> has a northern neighbor.<br />

Last year, about 50 million <strong>Japan</strong>ese<br />

tourists visited Hokkaido. But only 5,000<br />

ventured one island north on the geological<br />

chain, to <strong>Sakhalin</strong>.<br />

“Younger people in <strong>Japan</strong> don’t know<br />

about <strong>Sakhalin</strong>,” Shigeo Natsui, <strong>Japan</strong>’s<br />

consul general on the island, told a visiting<br />

FCCJ group in September. “You say,<br />

‘<strong>Sakhalin</strong>,’ and they think you are talking<br />

about a safari in Africa.”<br />

But the pr<strong>of</strong>ile <strong>of</strong> this mysterious and<br />

seldom visited island should soon rise — for<br />

journalists, tourists and business leaders.<br />

After decades <strong>of</strong> geologists calling <strong>Sakhalin</strong><br />

an energy source comparable to<br />

Alaska’s North Slope and Britain’s North<br />

Sea, the oil and gas riches <strong>of</strong> <strong>Sakhalin</strong> are<br />

finally starting to come on stream, a wel-<br />

l FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN<br />

come addition in the age <strong>of</strong> the US$70<br />

barrel <strong>of</strong> oil.<br />

In October, Exxon Mobil started to<br />

produce its first oil and gas from <strong>Sakhalin</strong>.<br />

Royal Dutch Shell is in the midst <strong>of</strong> a<br />

US$20 billion project to build Russia’s first<br />

liquefied natural gas plant, only 100 miles<br />

north <strong>of</strong> Hokkaido.<br />

With the billions in oil investment<br />

dollars, an estimated 5,400 foreign workers<br />

will come to <strong>Sakhalin</strong>, generating an<br />

unprecedented openness for an island that<br />

was, successively, a Czarist penal colony, a<br />

bloody battlefield between <strong>Japan</strong> and the<br />

Soviet Union, an eastern killing field and<br />

work camp <strong>of</strong> the Stalinist gulag, and, as<br />

exemplified by the 1983 shooting down <strong>of</strong><br />

KAL 007, a hair-trigger military outpost in<br />

the Cold War.<br />

Today, immigration <strong>of</strong>ficials on <strong>Sakhalin</strong><br />

stamp foreign passports as a matter <strong>of</strong><br />

routine. Over the next year, hotels on the<br />

island are to open like beer bottles. This<br />

overbuilding is to double the number <strong>of</strong><br />

hotel rooms and slash room rates. This autumn,<br />

new flights to <strong>Sakhalin</strong> started from<br />

Anchorage, Houston, Seoul and Tokyo. A<br />

new international air terminal features<br />

conveyor belt baggage retrieval and bilingual<br />

flat-screen flight monitors.<br />

So many foreigners now go to <strong>Sakhalin</strong><br />

that American Express has moved beyond<br />

Moscow and St. Petersburg to open<br />

its third Russian agency, in Yuzhno <strong>Sakhalin</strong>sk,<br />

the island’s capital with a population<br />

160,000.<br />

In early September, an FCCJ advance<br />

party disembarked in <strong>Sakhalin</strong>: Charles<br />

Charles Pertwee


Takako Takeuchi, a Tokyo artist, and her daughter, Yukiko, on board the ferry Eins Soya as it leaves Wakkanai for <strong>Sakhalin</strong><br />

Pertwee, a photographer; Marco Kauffmann<br />

<strong>of</strong> the Suddeutsche Zeitung; and<br />

me.<br />

We were to have been a bigger group,<br />

but midway into the visa application<br />

process, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi<br />

called an election. (For FCCJ members interested<br />

in traveling to <strong>Sakhalin</strong>, we will<br />

give a brief orientation at 5:30 pm<br />

on November 10 in the Main Bar,<br />

just before the “Russia Night”).<br />

From <strong>Japan</strong>, the conventional<br />

way to visit <strong>Sakhalin</strong> is by air — SAT<br />

from Sapporo or Hakodate. Now,<br />

there is also a twice-weekly Vladivostok<br />

Air chartered flight from<br />

Narita. For my third visit in four<br />

years, I persuaded my colleagues to go by<br />

ferry from Wakkanai, the pre-war jumping<br />

<strong>of</strong>f point for <strong>Sakhalin</strong>, when the southern<br />

half was ruled by <strong>Japan</strong> and called Karafuto.<br />

After we were stamped out <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong> at a<br />

metal shed that served as passport control,<br />

we boarded a clean, well-run ferry for the<br />

five-hour trip across the Soya Strait to Korsakov<br />

(¥20,000; one-way; second class).<br />

Moving two days ahead <strong>of</strong> a typhoon, we<br />

had a smooth crossing, with time to watch<br />

dolphins and chat with other passengers.<br />

Most <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Japan</strong>ese passengers were on<br />

nostalgia tours. Many had lived on the island<br />

before the Soviet army crossed into<br />

the <strong>Japan</strong>ese zone on August 15, 1945.<br />

“I feel it is my destiny to come back,”<br />

Takako Takeuchi, a Tokyo artist, said as the<br />

ship crossed the international strait separating<br />

<strong>Japan</strong> and Russia. “It is the place<br />

where I was born. But it is also the place<br />

where my family lost its fortune.”<br />

Approaching Korsakov, we were greeted<br />

by six-story cranes, their large steel feet<br />

frozen by rust into tracks on the docks.<br />

“It looks like War <strong>of</strong> the Worlds,” said<br />

Marco, marveling at his first taste <strong>of</strong> what<br />

would be four days <strong>of</strong> assessing post-Soviet<br />

decay. From our perch on the top<br />

deck, we watched skinny white boys with<br />

The kanji inscription hails the 1905<br />

embarkation <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong>ese troops<br />

at nearby Aniva Bay, part <strong>of</strong> the<br />

Russo-<strong>Japan</strong>ese War settlement<br />

that allotted <strong>Sakhalin</strong>’s southern<br />

half to <strong>Japan</strong>.<br />

shaved heads diving from concrete blocks<br />

into the Sea <strong>of</strong> Okhotsk. We had arrived<br />

in Russia.<br />

It took us two hours to get from the<br />

deck through customs — slow, but routine.<br />

Our journalist visas did not cause any<br />

excitement. Even Dan Hilton and his wife<br />

Hiromi, a couple from Hokkaido we met<br />

on board, got their four-wheel drive Isuzu<br />

Trooper through customs with minimum<br />

hassle. Dan, a Canadian, was exploring<br />

<strong>Sakhalin</strong> to write a freelance article for an<br />

American four-wheel magazine.<br />

After a 45-minute drive up the hill to<br />

Yuzhno, we went immediately to a dinner<br />

briefing by <strong>Sakhalin</strong> Energy Investment<br />

Co. This consortium <strong>of</strong> Royal Dutch Shell,<br />

Mitsui and Mitsubishi are building the Liquified<br />

Natural Gas plant. Not only has the<br />

completion date slipped half a year to the<br />

summer <strong>of</strong> 2008, but the overall project<br />

cost has doubled, to US$20 billion. For<br />

that, the folks from <strong>Sakhalin</strong> Energy had a<br />

fair amount <strong>of</strong> explaining to do, and one <strong>of</strong><br />

their best excuses was the high price <strong>of</strong> oil.<br />

After dinner we checked into the<br />

Gagarin, one <strong>of</strong> several Soviet-era hotels<br />

that has been totally renovated to cater to<br />

the global energy crowd.<br />

At dawn the following day, I opened<br />

the curtains <strong>of</strong> my sixth-floor room to<br />

unexpectedly behold one <strong>of</strong> the<br />

most beautiful room views in my<br />

four years in Asia. Rolling out like<br />

a green carpet, the landscape progressed<br />

from the city park to miles<br />

<strong>of</strong> thickly forested mountains. Rising<br />

on its east to west arc, the sun<br />

pierced a notch between the Chekhov<br />

and the Bolshevik Mountains,<br />

flooding my room with warm light.<br />

On other days, Charles came to photograph<br />

the sunrises and sunsets, but on<br />

day one there was no time for reveries. We<br />

were <strong>of</strong>f to tour the LNG site, at Prigorodnye,<br />

on a bay facing Hokkaido. In addition<br />

to the hard hats and hard boots,<br />

we got a safety lecture on how to behave<br />

around bears (don’t run).<br />

“Plant construction is in full swing,”<br />

said Hillary Mercer, the woman directing<br />

what will be the largest LNG plant in the<br />

world. <strong>Japan</strong>ese power companies have<br />

locked in much <strong>of</strong> the gas for 20-year contracts,<br />

so the worksite we saw will help<br />

keep Tokyo’s lights on and air conditioners<br />

running for much <strong>of</strong> the first half <strong>of</strong><br />

this century.<br />

On the way back, we stopped at the<br />

“<strong>Japan</strong>ese monument,” a hilltop obelisk<br />

toppled by Soviet sappers in 1945. The<br />

kanji inscription hails the 1905 embarkation<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong>ese troops at nearby Aniva<br />

FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN l NOVEMBER 2005 l<br />

Charles Pertwee


The Sakenergy liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant and oil export terminal in <strong>Sakhalin</strong><br />

Bay, part <strong>of</strong> the Russo-<strong>Japan</strong>ese War settlement<br />

that allotted <strong>Sakhalin</strong>’s southern<br />

half to <strong>Japan</strong>.<br />

Oddly, some fresh gray gravel had been<br />

splashed around. We later learned from<br />

Consul Natsui and the <strong>Sakhalin</strong> cultural<br />

authorities that the regional government<br />

has decided to preserve <strong>Japan</strong>ese cultural<br />

monuments, largely in the hope <strong>of</strong> attracting<br />

more <strong>Japan</strong>ese tourists. Given the advanced<br />

age <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Japan</strong>ese tourists on the<br />

ferry, <strong>Sakhalin</strong> is going to have to launch<br />

a major tourism drive to avoid red ink<br />

spreading from the ferry to the hotels.<br />

The half-hearted cultural preservation<br />

effort speaks <strong>of</strong> <strong>Sakhalin</strong> islanders’<br />

new self confidence vis a vis <strong>Japan</strong>. Sixty<br />

years ago, after Stalin’s troops invaded in<br />

a two-week campaign, they embarked on<br />

a ruthless “Russificatsiya” <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Japan</strong>ese<br />

section, expelling the roughly 400,000 residents<br />

and demolishing almost everything<br />

<strong>Japan</strong>ese.<br />

On day two <strong>of</strong> our tour, when the typhoon<br />

hit, we took refuge in the regional<br />

museum, one <strong>of</strong> handful <strong>of</strong> surviving<br />

buildings with strong <strong>Japan</strong>ese characteristics.<br />

In the excellent history section,<br />

photos hint at the destruction wrought<br />

in fighting, which left thousands <strong>of</strong> Russians<br />

and <strong>Japan</strong>ese dead. One section, the<br />

“Liberation <strong>of</strong> the Kuriles,” refers to a sub-<br />

10 l FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN<br />

ject best broached diplomatically when in<br />

Yuzhno, a city with administrative control<br />

over four islands that <strong>Japan</strong> claimed as<br />

their Northern Territories.<br />

During our days in Yuzhno, we were<br />

briefed by Exxon Mobil, British Petroleum,<br />

Rosneft, the American Business Center,<br />

Galina Pavlova, <strong>Sakhalin</strong>’s top oil and gas<br />

<strong>of</strong>ficial, and Dmitry Lisitsyn, chairman <strong>of</strong><br />

the <strong>Sakhalin</strong> Enviromental Watch. But we<br />

also had time to sample Yuzhno nightlife,<br />

to try out restaurants with cuisine ranging<br />

from Georgian to Indian to Russian, and<br />

to drive up to the ski area on Bolshevik<br />

Mountain to watch the sun set over the<br />

city.<br />

“I have never had such a productive reporting<br />

trip,” Marco said on Friday night,<br />

as he prepared for his Saturday morning<br />

ferry departure to return to Tokyo for the<br />

elections.<br />

Charles and I stayed through the<br />

weekend. With Zhenya Butenina, the valiant<br />

translator (emb@vimo.dvgu.ru), we<br />

drove across the island, from the port <strong>of</strong><br />

Kholmsk on the Tatar Strait, on the western<br />

shore, to the salmon spawning rivers<br />

and beaches <strong>of</strong> the Sea <strong>of</strong> Okhotsk on the<br />

eastern shore. In the middle <strong>of</strong> our road<br />

trip, we stopped for lunch at Doctor Zhivago,<br />

a roadside wooden cottage where we<br />

fortified ourselves with bear stew.<br />

On Monday morning, we took <strong>of</strong>f on<br />

the SAT flight to Hakodate. As the rugged<br />

Russian plane climbed steeply and flew<br />

south, we could see the new double pipeline,<br />

coursing its way down the island to<br />

the LNG plant. Near the coast, the pipeline<br />

route passes a few miles southwest <strong>of</strong><br />

an abandoned airstrip. Built on a northsouth<br />

axis, the Cold War-era strip was designed<br />

to put Soviet fighters over Wakkanai<br />

in five minutes.<br />

The old strip and the new pipeline<br />

captured the dramatic change in northsouth<br />

relations between two historic rivals<br />

<strong>of</strong> the Pacific, Russia and <strong>Japan</strong>.<br />

FCCJ Russia Night<br />

At 6:30 on Thursday November 10,<br />

the FCCJ will present its first “Russia<br />

Night”, complete with Russian food,<br />

music and door prizes. Alexander<br />

Losyukov, Russia’s ambassador to <strong>Japan</strong>,<br />

will be among those attending. Immediately<br />

before the dinner, at 5:30 pm in<br />

the main bar, FCCJ Director Jim Brooke<br />

will give a quick briefing on <strong>Sakhalin</strong>,<br />

with contact numbers and e-mails for<br />

interested members. The Russia evening<br />

will help members gear up for Russian<br />

President Vladimir Putin’s planned visit<br />

to Tokyo on November 20.<br />

Charles Pertwee


Children play on a war memorial on the 123rd anniversary <strong>of</strong> Yuzhno <strong>Sakhalin</strong>sk<br />

FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN l NOVEMBER 2005 l 11<br />

Charles Pertwee


ELECTION SPECIAL l KOIZUMI<br />

Koizumi delivers...almost<br />

The recent general election was a study in the supreme stage-management skills <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong>’s prime minister.<br />

But media coverage <strong>of</strong> the campaign shortchanged the voters, writes ANTHONY FENSOM<br />

f I have to die for my stand, then I<br />

“Iwill.” It’s the kind <strong>of</strong> quote the media loves,<br />

especially when it comes from the nation’s<br />

political leader. And few are more mediasavvy<br />

than the current occupant <strong>of</strong> the<br />

prime minister’s <strong>of</strong>fice in Nagatacho, <strong>Japan</strong>’s<br />

political center.<br />

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s<br />

leaked statement in early August to his predecessor<br />

Yoshiro Mori on his determination to<br />

push through postal privatization was typical<br />

<strong>of</strong> his election campaign — colorful, theatrical<br />

and over the top. It was also carefully<br />

stage-managed, right down to the crumpled<br />

beer can a despondent Mori was seen carrying<br />

away after a meeting in which he was<br />

said to have failed to persuade his leader not<br />

to call an election on postal reform.<br />

In a campaign accurately described as<br />

“Koizumi theatre,” the master performer<br />

drew on his full repertoire <strong>of</strong> tricks to keep<br />

the media and public engrossed. The standing<br />

ovation he received at the end <strong>of</strong> the<br />

month-long political drama in the form <strong>of</strong><br />

12 l FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN<br />

a landslide victory was testimony to his successful<br />

tactics and the failure <strong>of</strong> those <strong>of</strong> his<br />

opponents. With postal privatization seemingly<br />

about as sexy an issue as accounting<br />

standards, this is a man who could sell snow<br />

to the Eskimos — by the truckload.<br />

Indeed, Koizumi’s right-hand man, Isao<br />

Iijima, was reportedly stunned when in<br />

June he learned <strong>of</strong> the prime minister’s plan<br />

to dissolve the house <strong>of</strong> representatives. It<br />

was a move that Sir Humphrey Appleby <strong>of</strong><br />

the BBC television comedy series Yes Minister<br />

would have described to his minister as<br />

extremely “courageous” — code for political<br />

suicide.<br />

Despite the best efforts <strong>of</strong> the mainstream<br />

media to get a policy debate going, the<br />

campaign for the September 11 election,<br />

which effectively started on August 8 with<br />

the lower house dissolution, was brilliantly<br />

orchestrated by the reformist Liberal Democratic<br />

Party president.<br />

Koizumi gave the public exactly what<br />

they wanted — and are accustomed to getting<br />

— from their political leaders: bread<br />

and circuses. If the bread was in his stated<br />

determination not to push for a tax hike,<br />

the circus was the “assassin” candidates<br />

drafted in by the LDP after Koizumi’s bold<br />

move to expel 37 dissenters against his<br />

postal privatization bills.<br />

Initially stunned by the fact that the<br />

prime minister had made good on his threat<br />

to dissolve the Diet, the celebrities whom<br />

the party picked to run against the postal<br />

rebels had everything the media could ask<br />

for. Top <strong>of</strong> the list was the internet billionaire<br />

Takafumi Horie, a one-time enemy <strong>of</strong><br />

the establishment for his audacious takeover<br />

bid <strong>of</strong> the Fujisankei media group but<br />

now Koizumi’s best friend, along with a<br />

host <strong>of</strong> glamorous female candidates. One<br />

was a popular former television presenter,<br />

another a former model and bureaucrat,<br />

and another a political science pr<strong>of</strong>essor.<br />

The weeklies couldn’t get enough <strong>of</strong><br />

them. They quickly zoomed in on the hairdo<br />

<strong>of</strong> Satsuki Katayama, a former finance<br />

ministry section chief, and her status as a<br />

former Miss Tokyo University, with Yukari


Sato’s alleged affairs involving numerous<br />

men providing further titillation.<br />

The wide shows — the sensationalist<br />

television news programmes providing a<br />

steady diet <strong>of</strong> sex, scandal and rumor —<br />

suddenly started discussing postal reform,<br />

and even the tabloid newspaper, the Tokyo<br />

Sports, started taking an interest.<br />

While Koizumi may have dumbed<br />

down the election, he certainly captured<br />

everyone’s interest, with a Yomiuri Shimbun<br />

poll finding the highest level <strong>of</strong> voter interest<br />

since the single-seat constituency system<br />

was introduced in 1996.<br />

The nation’s two biggest-selling dailies<br />

tried, and failed, to shift the public’s attention<br />

back to policy. The Asahi Shimbun<br />

pleaded to voters to “think seriously about<br />

our role in Iraq” while decrying the “sound<br />

bites” focus <strong>of</strong> the television campaign.<br />

Similarly, the Yomiuri Shimbun, in its August<br />

31 editorial, called on voters to “seriously<br />

scrutinize” the parties’ policies.<br />

Both papers urged debate on such issues<br />

as foreign policy and health, social security<br />

and taxation reform, but despite the increased<br />

depth <strong>of</strong> the parties’ manifestos, the<br />

focus remained on postal reform and the<br />

battle between Koizumi and the LDP rebels.<br />

Media analyst Wm. Penn, author <strong>of</strong> The<br />

Couch Potato’s Guide to <strong>Japan</strong> and columnist<br />

for the Daily Yomiuri, said the election<br />

“was called so abruptly that the manifestos<br />

didn’t get a look in — the main factor was<br />

the ‘assassin’ candidates.”<br />

Chuo University Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Takashi<br />

Inoguchi, whose wife Kuniko was elected<br />

for the first time after being picked as one <strong>of</strong><br />

Koizumi’s assassins, said: “The LDP basically<br />

expelled thirty-odd members <strong>of</strong> its own<br />

party. They found candidates by checking<br />

the frequency <strong>of</strong> their appearances on radio<br />

and television, a process they started even<br />

before the election.<br />

“Koizumi kept sending the same message<br />

— vigorously and ferociously — that<br />

postal privatization would benefit all kinds<br />

<strong>of</strong> things. He made it very simple. The Democratic<br />

Party <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong> leader Katsuya Okada<br />

came across as serious, but uninspiring.”<br />

While Inoguchi said highbrow debate<br />

was all well and good for the elite, he added,<br />

“You have to make it shallow to appeal<br />

to the people — this is a mass democracy,<br />

and it’s TV-oriented.”<br />

The turnout at Koizumi’s street stumps<br />

was testimony to his appeal. While not the<br />

“Lion King” figurehead <strong>of</strong> the early days <strong>of</strong><br />

his premiership, in which his popularity was<br />

such that even phone straps carried his image,<br />

the “Cool Biz” prime minister, minus<br />

his necktie, regularly attracted crowds <strong>of</strong> a<br />

size that would please most rock bands.<br />

Desperately trying to steal some <strong>of</strong> his<br />

political boss’s limelight was Horie, who has<br />

never met a camera he didn’t like. Koizumi<br />

adroitly put the wealthy internet entrepreneur<br />

up against Shizuka Kamei, a bastion <strong>of</strong><br />

the old school, pork-barrel style politics.<br />

The contest was tailor-made for the media:<br />

Tokyo-drafted outsider against Hiroshima<br />

local; freshman versus political veteran;<br />

new economy versus old. Some <strong>of</strong> the highlights<br />

included Horie’s appearance at the<br />

FCCJ, where he called Kamei a virtual communist<br />

for his talk <strong>of</strong> defending the poor<br />

and the weak. Kamei, now a candidate for<br />

the People’s New Party, countered by blasting<br />

Koizumi’s “fascistic” tactics.<br />

At every appearance, crowds <strong>of</strong> Hiroshima<br />

residents flocked to get autographs from<br />

Horie, a man who has made not wearing a<br />

suit a political statement. Even when Kamei<br />

won — by only 26,000 votes — Horie got<br />

more television airtime than his opponent.<br />

The pain <strong>of</strong> his loss may also have been eased<br />

somewhat by the bounce in his company<br />

Livedoor’s share price, which hit a year-high<br />

in mid-August, undoubtedly helped by its<br />

president’s increased media exposure.<br />

While electoral laws prevented Horie<br />

from utilizing the power <strong>of</strong> his internet<br />

empire to garner votes, Nikkei journalist<br />

Yoichi Takita said the rules were likely to<br />

change “in the very near future” now that<br />

the brash 32-year-old has the ear <strong>of</strong> the<br />

prime minister.<br />

So did the media do its job? Amid the<br />

shouting matches on television involving<br />

such outspoken figures as Kamei and Tokyo’s<br />

governor, Shintaro Ishihara, Columbia University<br />

Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Gerald Curtis said Koizumi<br />

had sparked “a bigger boom than any before<br />

him.” It was a hard job just keeping up with<br />

the frenetic activity.<br />

Penn, however, dismissed assertions<br />

that the made-for-television campaign had<br />

been shallow.<br />

“Compared with the last two US presi-<br />

dential elections, in which only the two<br />

major parties were allowed television<br />

debate time, and in 2004, when the incumbent<br />

seemed to have a definite media<br />

advantage, the <strong>Japan</strong>ese media has been<br />

quite fair,” she said.<br />

“All seven parties were given a chance<br />

to participate in on-air discussions, and the<br />

wide shows actually turned over whole half<br />

hours for debate between candidates.<br />

“Some networks were better than others<br />

— TBS and TV Asahi usually try harder<br />

— but as none <strong>of</strong> the candidates were really<br />

explicit about their proposals, it was hard<br />

for the media to get a handle on things.”<br />

Former FCCJ President Sam Jameson<br />

said the coverage <strong>of</strong> the assassins “got<br />

the vote out.” Voter turnout <strong>of</strong> around<br />

67 percent was the highest since the 1990<br />

election’s 73 percent, something that<br />

magnified the LDP’s gains under the single-constituency<br />

system.<br />

Jameson, though, said the media had<br />

let themselves down by allowing Koizumi<br />

to avoid his weak area — relations with<br />

China and the Koreas — despite editorials<br />

calling for action. He also voiced surprise<br />

over the lack <strong>of</strong> coverage given to the success<br />

<strong>of</strong> women candidates, with a record<br />

43 elected to the lower house, the highest<br />

number since 1946.<br />

“There has been evidence over the years<br />

that voters want the LDP to stay in power,<br />

but they want reform,” Jameson said. “It<br />

wasn’t the privatization issue that appealed<br />

to voters, but the fact that Koizumi had denied<br />

endorsement to the rebels and was wiping<br />

out one <strong>of</strong> his party’s support bases.”<br />

In a race in which style was far more important<br />

than substance, it was Katsuya Okada,<br />

leader <strong>of</strong> the Democratic Party <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong>,<br />

who died politically for his principles, and<br />

not the charmed gambler from Yokosuka. It<br />

is safe to say that the <strong>Japan</strong>ese media won’t<br />

be shedding too many tears.<br />

FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN l NOVEMBER 2005 l 13


PHOTO ESSAY l ELECTION SPECIAL<br />

Tokyo votes<br />

TONY MCNICOL follows the campaign trail in Tokyo’s 12th district<br />

Tokyo’s 12th district is made up <strong>of</strong><br />

Kita ward and part <strong>of</strong> Adachi ward<br />

in the north <strong>of</strong> the city. It was the only<br />

constituency in Tokyo where the Liberal<br />

Democratic Party did not field a candidate.<br />

The New Komeito candidate, Akihiro<br />

Ota, was voted in with 109,636 votes.<br />

The Democratic Party <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong>’s Yukihisa<br />

Fujita was elected under the proportional<br />

14 l FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN<br />

representation system. Postal-reform rebel<br />

and former Posts Minister Eita Yashiro<br />

gained 44,279 votes but lost his seat. Ken<br />

Nonoyama <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Japan</strong>ese Communist<br />

Party came fourth with 26,068 votes.<br />

The photographs featured here were<br />

taken outside local railway stations in<br />

the constituency during the final three<br />

days <strong>of</strong> the campaign.<br />

(This page top) New Komeito supporters listen to their<br />

candidate, Akihiro Ota, speak outside Itabashi Station.<br />

(This page bottom left) <strong>Japan</strong>ese Communist Party leader<br />

Kazuo Shii addresses a crowd outside Akabane Station.<br />

(This page bottom right) The heat gets to one voter during<br />

a campaign speech the day before the polls opened.<br />

(Page 1 ) A child catches forty winks during a New<br />

Komeito hustings outside Itabashi station on a hot and<br />

sticky afternoon.


FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN l NOVEMBER 2005 l 15


ELECTION SPECIAL l WEEKLIES WATCH<br />

Weeklies watch<br />

While the foreign press praised Koizumi as a daring reformer following his September 11 election victory, several<br />

<strong>Japan</strong>ese weeklies used other monikers: the “Dictator” and “Little Hitler” among them, writes CHIE MATSUMOTO<br />

How did Junichiro Koizumi win the<br />

September general election? There<br />

are as many answers to that question as<br />

there are pundits analyzing the poll, but<br />

Yoichiro Komori gives one <strong>of</strong> the more<br />

critical replies. In an election postmortem<br />

in Shukan Kinyobi, he accuses Koizumi <strong>of</strong><br />

practicing a “spiral <strong>of</strong> silence.”<br />

First, Koizumi raised post<strong>of</strong>fice privatization.<br />

Because, initially, few could care<br />

less, the opposition was silent. Later, when<br />

opposing voices finally came, Koizumi silenced<br />

them by accusing them <strong>of</strong> working<br />

against the national interest. Others then<br />

stayed quiet for fear they would suffer the<br />

same fate.<br />

Hey presto: election victory, says Komori,<br />

who teaches at Tokyo University.<br />

In the end, frustration with the way<br />

Koizumi fought the election led some politicians<br />

to lash out, including LDP rebels<br />

expelled from the party who dubbed him<br />

“Little Hitler” and the “Dictator.”<br />

“Koizumi won because he focused<br />

exclusively on one policy,” writes Jiro<br />

Yamaguchi in the same issue. The<br />

Hokkaido University academic suspects<br />

that many ordinary citizens were ignorant<br />

<strong>of</strong> the issues, because they were seeking a<br />

decisive leader rather than trying to learn<br />

the details <strong>of</strong> the policies being promoted.<br />

Yamaguchi writes that the Democratic<br />

Party <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong> embraced the popular<br />

agenda <strong>of</strong> smaller government, but failed<br />

to impress the voters because it simply<br />

promoted LDP-sounding slogans<br />

such as cutting public workers<br />

and government spending.<br />

Still he says, <strong>Japan</strong> was lucky<br />

to avoid the worst-case scenario:<br />

no opposition at all. The Social<br />

Democrats and the Communists<br />

survived, despite fears that they<br />

would lose every single seat.<br />

And the DPJ? “It is simply mimicking<br />

LDP policies — no way to go for an opposition<br />

party,” he claims; the DPJ has abandoned<br />

its role <strong>of</strong> protesting and blocking the<br />

debatable policies <strong>of</strong> the ruling coalition.<br />

Yamaguchi analyses Koizumi’s popularity<br />

thus: “With neo-liberal policies<br />

comes the notion that winners keep on<br />

winning and the rest only have themselves<br />

to blame; the public then tends<br />

to seek a leader who appears to speak to<br />

their personal needs.”<br />

Takeharu Watai, a video journalist<br />

with Asia Press, agrees, comparing Koizu-<br />

16 l FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN<br />

The <strong>Japan</strong>ese press announces Koizumi’s stunning victory<br />

mi with Bae Yong Joon, the South Korean<br />

star who has mesmerized thousands <strong>of</strong><br />

middle-aged <strong>Japan</strong>ese women. For swing<br />

voters, Koizumi had the movie-star charm<br />

and charisma to make them believe that<br />

Komori points out that Koizumi<br />

came very close to violating the<br />

constitution, which does not allow<br />

a prime minister to dissolve parliament<br />

after his bills have been voted<br />

down in the upper house.<br />

he spoke to them personally, he says.<br />

Komori points out that Koizumi came<br />

very close to violating the constitution,<br />

which does not allow a prime minister<br />

to dissolve parliament after his bills have<br />

been voted down in the upper house.<br />

As for Koizumi’s reforms, Yamaguchi<br />

likens them to a haunted house: “You can<br />

see the entrance to postal privatization but<br />

can’t tell what is inside or what waits at<br />

the exit.” He believes the ghosts inside include<br />

a large tax hike and the breakdown<br />

<strong>of</strong> the pension system.<br />

Koizumi portrayed himself as a prime<br />

minister who listens and follows through<br />

on his promises, but will he be able to<br />

deliver by the time be resigns in September<br />

2006? Some believe he may end up<br />

dumping everything onto the next prime<br />

minister.<br />

Yamaguchi questions whether<br />

a leader can bring citizens on board<br />

merely by shrinking government<br />

and attacking bureaucracy. He<br />

thinks the election will be followed<br />

by revision <strong>of</strong> Article 9 and a further<br />

shift to the right, as Koizumi<br />

continues to push the public’s nationalist<br />

buttons.<br />

Yamaguchi wants <strong>Japan</strong> to urgently establish<br />

a system <strong>of</strong> two-party government<br />

like the United States, boasting both neoliberalism<br />

and social democracy. To that<br />

end, he believes the DPJ must establish a<br />

clear ideology and strategy, once it licks its<br />

election wounds.<br />

“Koizumi’s reforms will cause many<br />

people to suffer, ”he suggests. Without<br />

a social democratic party to represent<br />

the needs <strong>of</strong> these people, options will<br />

be limited. “And without options,” says<br />

Yamaguchi, “there is fascism.”<br />

Akiko Miyake


Takafumi Horie<br />

In the battle between the old guard and<br />

the “assassins” in the September 11<br />

election, nowhere was the contest starker<br />

— or more bitter — than in the Hiroshima<br />

No. 6 constituency.<br />

The internet entrepreneur, Takafumi<br />

Horie, knew he was up against a formidable<br />

foe in Shizuka Kamei, who was unceremoniously<br />

ousted from the Liberal<br />

Democratic Party for failing to support<br />

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s postal<br />

privatisation bills.<br />

But after a private meeting with the<br />

premier, Horie, 32, agreed to run as an independent<br />

backed by the LDP in a constituency<br />

that Kamei had held since 1979.<br />

Six days after his opponent had appeared<br />

at the club, and six months after<br />

his previous visit — during which he<br />

stated that he had absolutely no political<br />

ambitions — Horie returned to explain<br />

his dramatic about-face.<br />

“Until now I have been involved in<br />

many business ventures and I have felt<br />

the pace <strong>of</strong> change in <strong>Japan</strong>ese politics<br />

is very slow, so I was not interested,” he<br />

said. “But as I go on with my businesses,<br />

I’m becoming frustrated at the slow pace<br />

<strong>of</strong> change.<br />

“I knew I could vote, but I could not<br />

come up with the name <strong>of</strong> a politician<br />

who could solve the problems I was having<br />

in business.<br />

“Up to now, <strong>Japan</strong>ese politics has been<br />

just a case <strong>of</strong> a politician bringing government<br />

money — subsidies and tax grants<br />

— to a region. Politicians don’t have a<br />

dream for <strong>Japan</strong> that they guide the people<br />

towards. Maybe they think about it,<br />

but I have never seen any <strong>of</strong> that kind <strong>of</strong><br />

action.”<br />

Horie’s comments were a thinly veiled<br />

attack on his opponent, who, critics say,<br />

takes care <strong>of</strong> his constituents with government<br />

financial assistance and public<br />

works projects.<br />

“Why are young, capable <strong>Japan</strong>ese<br />

not entering politics?” Horie asked. “It’s<br />

because they consider it to be dirty and<br />

corrupt. I want to change that and make<br />

young people see politicians as cool<br />

and brilliant. If we can bring about that<br />

change, we can have a new generation <strong>of</strong><br />

politicians.”<br />

Unfortunately for Horie, the people<br />

<strong>of</strong> Hiroshima opted to elect a man who<br />

has been their benefactor for more than a<br />

quarter <strong>of</strong> a century.<br />

Five days before<br />

the vote, however,<br />

the president<br />

<strong>of</strong> Livedoor was<br />

laying out plans<br />

for some radical<br />

changes in <strong>Japan</strong>’s<br />

society and its<br />

politics.<br />

“The authority<br />

<strong>of</strong> the prime<br />

minister is limited<br />

in comparison to<br />

the presidential<br />

system used in the<br />

United States, and<br />

it could even be<br />

argued that Koizumi<br />

was not chosen<br />

by the people<br />

but by the party,”<br />

he said.<br />

“The presidential<br />

system is very<br />

simple to understand<br />

and is better<br />

for the modern<br />

age. Everything<br />

happens much<br />

faster today and we<br />

need a leadership that is able to react<br />

quickly and nimbly to events.”<br />

In other comments that may well<br />

have lost him votes in the conservative<br />

heartland <strong>of</strong> Hiroshima, he broached the<br />

controversial subject <strong>of</strong> the role <strong>of</strong> the<br />

Emperor.<br />

“Although he is just a symbol and<br />

most people are not bothered about the<br />

Emperor, I feel uncomfortable that the<br />

constitution begins with the phrase, ‘The<br />

Emperor shall be symbol <strong>of</strong> the state,’” he<br />

said. “The reason that past prime ministers<br />

and cabinets have not tried to change<br />

this is because they are scared <strong>of</strong> rightwingers.”<br />

As well as voicing support for Koizumi’s<br />

postal reform plans, Horie said that,<br />

if elected, he would champion an increase<br />

in immigration to fill the looming gap in<br />

the domestic labour market, as well as<br />

election campaigning via the internet and<br />

increased spending on rocket technology<br />

to compete with China in the Far East<br />

space race.<br />

“<strong>Japan</strong> is confused and has no sense<br />

<strong>of</strong> direction,” he said. “It is important for<br />

governments as well as companies to be<br />

Horie speaks at the FCCJ as polling days nears<br />

SPEAKER HIGHLIGHTS l ELECTION SPECIAL<br />

able to make a choice. <strong>Japan</strong> cannot aspire<br />

to be the same as the US or China<br />

purely because <strong>of</strong> their size and population,<br />

so we have to identify our strengths<br />

and focus our efforts on areas where we<br />

can be number one in the world.”<br />

Suggesting that Kamei had “changed”<br />

since his days as a top police <strong>of</strong>ficial and<br />

powerful politician, the author <strong>of</strong> Earning<br />

Money is Everything: From Zero to ¥10 Billion,<br />

My Way, said his aim in the election<br />

was to <strong>of</strong>fer hope to the people <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong>.<br />

“Mr. Kamei is the symbol <strong>of</strong> old-style<br />

politics and if he can be defeated it will<br />

give hope to the people <strong>of</strong> this country,”<br />

Horie said. “It won’t be easy, but if I can<br />

clear the highest hurdle first then everything<br />

else will come easier.”<br />

Before midnight on September 11, it<br />

had become clear that he would not overcome<br />

the hurdle <strong>of</strong> being elected, but few<br />

would bet against him carrying through<br />

with his political ambitions at a later date.<br />

Even though he was running for elected<br />

<strong>of</strong>fice for the first time, Horie hinted<br />

heavily that he himself would like to be<br />

the first president <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong>.<br />

FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN l NOVEMBER 2005 l 1<br />

Akiko Miyake


SPEAKER HIGHLIGHTS l ELECTION SPECIAL<br />

Election special<br />

As the photographs on these pages<br />

prove, the FCCJ was host to a who’s<br />

who <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong>ese politics in the run-up to<br />

the general election on September 11.<br />

All <strong>of</strong> the events were highly topical,<br />

attracted healthy attendances and provided<br />

FCCJ members with an opportunity to<br />

put tricky questions to people in the news<br />

— achieving everything we strive for as an<br />

organization.<br />

Much <strong>of</strong> the success <strong>of</strong> the programme<br />

should be credited to Wayne Hunter and<br />

Chung Hyon Suk, whose tireless work and<br />

late nights were behind the realization <strong>of</strong><br />

1. Sadao Hirano, former member <strong>of</strong> the House <strong>of</strong><br />

Representatives and author <strong>of</strong> The Truth about the<br />

New Komeito and Soka Gakkai: August 1<br />

2. Yoshinobu Shimamura, member <strong>of</strong> the House<br />

<strong>of</strong> Representatives and former minister <strong>of</strong> Agricul-<br />

ture, Forestry and Fisheries: August 1<br />

3. Katsuya Okada, Democratic Party <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong> President:<br />

August 25<br />

4. Takenori Kanzaki, New Komeito Chief Repre-<br />

3<br />

1 l FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN<br />

these key events.<br />

A big thank you must also go to the<br />

members <strong>of</strong> the PAC forum e-mail group,<br />

who were quick <strong>of</strong>f the mark with speaker<br />

suggestions.<br />

Many regular members have complimented<br />

me on the PAC programme, and it<br />

is good to know that the speakers were so<br />

useful to journalists covering the election.<br />

Equally satisfying was the fact that several<br />

<strong>Japan</strong>ese media also picked up on our<br />

election programme and asked how we<br />

managed to secure such a stellar line-up.<br />

Looking ahead, the PAC hopes to bring<br />

sentative: August 26<br />

5. Shoichi Nakagawa, Minister <strong>of</strong> Economy, Trade<br />

and Industry: August 26<br />

6. Shinzo Abe, Acting Secretary General, Liberal<br />

Democratic Party: August 2<br />

. Shizuka Kamei, Kokumin Shinto (People’s New<br />

Party): August 31<br />

. Koki Kobayashi, Shinto Nippon and Yuriko<br />

Koike, Liberal Democratic Party: September 2<br />

1 2 4<br />

in just as many newsmakers in the future,<br />

including those who will feature in a special<br />

60th anniversary programme at the club<br />

and a series <strong>of</strong> celebratory events outside.<br />

But the success <strong>of</strong> PAC events depends<br />

on support from the FCCJ membership. If<br />

you plan to attend an event, please register!<br />

If you have a suggestion for a speaker<br />

or event theme, please inform a PAC chair<br />

or use the online submission form.<br />

After all, without your help and support,<br />

none <strong>of</strong> this would have been possible.<br />

Martyn Williams — Co-chair, Pr<strong>of</strong>essional<br />

Activities Committee<br />

. Kazuo Shii, <strong>Japan</strong>ese Communist Party Executive<br />

Committee Chair: September 5<br />

10. Takafumi Horie, President and CEO, Livedoor<br />

Co., Ltd: September 6<br />

11. Sawako Takeuchi, Candidate for the Position<br />

<strong>of</strong> OECD Secretary-General: September 6<br />

12. Yasuo Tanaka, Captain <strong>of</strong> New Party Nippon<br />

and Governor <strong>of</strong> Nagano Prefecture: September<br />

Akiko Miyake photos


5 6<br />

7 8<br />

9 10 11<br />

12<br />

FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN l NOVEMBER 2005 l 1<br />

Akiko Miyake photos


RECENT EVENTS l SAMBA NIGHT & SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE<br />

Samba Night — August 23<br />

FCCJ members let their hair down for a night <strong>of</strong> entertainment, Brazilian style. Churrasco, fish and prawn stew, and feijoada were the<br />

culinary highlights. However, it was the Asakusa Samba Group that really upped the tempo<br />

Saturday Night Live — September 3 & 10<br />

Slowing down a touch, members were treated to a little sangria and some classical Spanish guitar by well-known duo Sangre Hispana. Then<br />

Luis Sartor impressed members with his playing <strong>of</strong> the charango, a small ten-string lute traditionally fashioned from an armadillo shell<br />

Saturday Night Live — September 17<br />

In keeping with the theme <strong>Japan</strong>’s own La Tuna group serenaded FCCJ members with Spanish ballads and a whole lot <strong>of</strong> merrymaking<br />

20 l FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN<br />

Akiko Miyake photos<br />

Kuryu Masao photos<br />

Kuryu Masao photos


Upcoming Events<br />

Visit the <strong>Foreign</strong> Correspondents’ <strong>Club</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japan</strong> web site for further updates on events at www.fccj.or.jp<br />

Upcoming PAC Events<br />

Oct. 25, Tuesday, 15:00-16:00<br />

James Morris<br />

Executive director, World Food Programme<br />

Nov. 25, Friday, 12:00-13:30, Lunch<br />

Carlos Ghosn<br />

President and co-chairman, Nissan Motor Co.<br />

The FCCJ Library stocks a wide variety <strong>of</strong> resources<br />

on <strong>Japan</strong> and Asia including videos,<br />

books, newspapers, periodicals and reference<br />

materials in English and <strong>Japan</strong>ese. Wire<br />

services from Reuters, Bridge News, Nikkei<br />

and online databases are also avilable.<br />

Along with the Narian workroom, available<br />

24 hours a day to regular members and<br />

guests, the library is well stocked with tools<br />

to help you make the news.<br />

The library is open Monday to Friday,<br />

10:30–19:00 and on Saturdays 13:00–17:00.<br />

It is closed on Sundays and <strong>Japan</strong>ese national<br />

holidays.<br />

War Reporting for<br />

Cowards<br />

Ayers, Chris<br />

Atlantic Monthly Press<br />

Gift from Steven L. Herman<br />

Spitfires in <strong>Japan</strong><br />

Bouchier, Cecil (‘Boy’)<br />

Global Oriental<br />

Gift from UPS<br />

Subway Guide to Tokyo<br />

De Mente, Boye Lafayette<br />

Tuttle Publishing<br />

Gift from Tuttle Publishing<br />

The Devil’s Teeth<br />

Casey, Susan<br />

Henry Holt and Company<br />

Exhibitions<br />

November<br />

Main bar and sushi bar:<br />

Prints by Yoshiko Shimada on the theme<br />

<strong>of</strong> women in World War II.<br />

The Smoking Diaries<br />

Gray, Simon<br />

Granta Books<br />

Gift from George Deutsch<br />

A Time Remembered<br />

Gruhzit- Hoyt, Olga<br />

Presidio<br />

Daisy Miller and Other Stories<br />

James, Henry<br />

Oxford University Press<br />

Gift from Michael Berger<br />

The Historian<br />

Kostova, Elizabeth<br />

Brown & Company<br />

A Changing Korea in<br />

Regional and Global<br />

Contexts<br />

Lee-Jay Cho<br />

East-West Center & Seoul<br />

National University Press<br />

Gift from Bradley K. Martin<br />

The Art and Politics <strong>of</strong> Arthur Szyk<br />

Luckert, Steven<br />

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum<br />

Gift from Rinjiro Sodei<br />

<strong>Japan</strong>ese Law in Context<br />

Milhaupt, Curtis J. ed.<br />

Harvard University Asia Center<br />

Gift from The New York Times<br />

The Great Wall and the Empty Fortress<br />

Nathan, Andrew J.<br />

W. W. Norton<br />

Gift from Emiko Doi<br />

UPCOMING EVENTS l BOOKS & LIBRARY<br />

December<br />

Main bar and sushi bar:<br />

Photographs by Kyoichi Tsuzuki from his<br />

Roadside <strong>Japan</strong> and other projects.<br />

Love Letters at Sixty<br />

NHK Publishing Co., Ltd.<br />

NHK Shuppan Co., Ltd.<br />

Gift from Richard R. F. Ginies<br />

Baketsu Hitotsu de Asia Tabi<br />

Oshiro, Kazumi<br />

Jyoho Senter Shuppankyoku<br />

Fire Sale<br />

Paretsky, Sara<br />

G. P. Putnam’s Son<br />

Tokyo Nights<br />

Richie, Donald<br />

Printed Matter Press<br />

Gift from Donald Richie<br />

Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince<br />

Rowling, J. K.<br />

Livine Books<br />

Gift from John W. Brady<br />

The Emigrants<br />

Sebald, W. G.<br />

Vintage<br />

Gift from George Deutsch<br />

Tha Chan’s Great Continent<br />

Spence, Jonathan D.<br />

W. W. Norton<br />

Gift from Emiko Doi<br />

Spy on the Ro<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> the World<br />

Wignall, Sydney<br />

Lyons & Burford, Publishers<br />

Gift from Emiko Doi<br />

FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN l NOVEMBER 2005 l 21


NEW MEMBERS l COMMITTEE MEMBERS<br />

Birga Boecker first came to<br />

<strong>Japan</strong> several years ago on<br />

a school exchange, spending<br />

a fascinating year living<br />

with home-stay families.<br />

After returning to Germany<br />

she attended journalism school and started<br />

studying economics at the University <strong>of</strong><br />

Cologne, before coming to <strong>Japan</strong> for anther<br />

year, this time as an exchange student<br />

at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo. After<br />

graduation she got a job with the German<br />

financial newspaper Boersen-Zeitung and<br />

finally made her way back here again this<br />

March as a foreign correspondent. Birga is<br />

looking forward to exchanging views about<br />

<strong>Japan</strong>, its economy, politics and people<br />

with fellow members <strong>of</strong> the FCCJ.<br />

60th Anniversary<br />

*Robert Neff<br />

*Ge<strong>of</strong>frey Tudor<br />

*Richard Hanson<br />

Associate Liaison<br />

*Jack Spillum<br />

*Michiko Mitarai<br />

*Dan Sloan<br />

Tadahisa Matsuda<br />

Shijuro Ogata<br />

Gyoun Hayashi<br />

Yoshimi Honma<br />

Isao Yamagata<br />

Kikuko Hanami<br />

Isao Saito<br />

Thomas Brown<br />

Grady E. Loy<br />

Mehdi Bassiri<br />

Mark Halpern<br />

Don Hauk<br />

V. C. Lingam<br />

Yasuo Kojima<br />

Ernie Salomon<br />

Blue Ribbon Panel<br />

*Anthony Rowley<br />

22 l FCCJ NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN<br />

Hiroaki Uemura has been<br />

president <strong>of</strong> the Nikkei Osaka<br />

Seisaku Center since<br />

March this year. Before<br />

that he was general manager<br />

<strong>of</strong> the production bureau<br />

at the Nihon Keizai Shimbun in Osaka,<br />

a post he had held since March 2001. He<br />

was the editor <strong>of</strong> the news editing department<br />

in Tokyo March 1993–March 2001,<br />

and deputy editor <strong>of</strong> the capital market<br />

news department October 1990–March<br />

1993. He was deputy editor <strong>of</strong> the London<br />

bureau March 1988–1990 and a staff<br />

correspondent in the New York bureau<br />

March 1985–March 1988. Uemura graduated<br />

with a BA from Waseda University<br />

in 1970.<br />

The Number One Shimbun needs you!<br />

If you would like to contribute words or pictures to your magazine, please feel free to contact the editor at<br />

Kazuo Abiko<br />

Richard Hanson<br />

Steven Herman<br />

Gebhard Hielscher<br />

Roger Schreffler<br />

James Treece<br />

Jack Russell<br />

Entertainment<br />

*Glenn Davis<br />

**Nobuko Hara<br />

Music<br />

*Kei’ichiro Tominaga<br />

**Nobuko Hara<br />

Exhibitions<br />

*Per Bodner<br />

Andrea Waldbrunner<br />

Gabrielle Kennedy<br />

Androniki<br />

Christodoulou<br />

Finance<br />

*Yoshisuke Iinuma<br />

**Miki Tanikawa<br />

Roderick Lucas<br />

Justin.McCurry@guardian.co.uk<br />

Edwin Merner<br />

Stephen Church<br />

Catherine Makino<br />

Richard Hanson<br />

Paul H<strong>of</strong>f<br />

Food & Beverage<br />

*Bob Kirschenbaum<br />

Gabrielle Kennedy<br />

**Pio d’Emilia<br />

Freedoom <strong>of</strong> Press<br />

*Benjamin Fulford<br />

House &<br />

Property<br />

*Khaldon Azhari<br />

Human<br />

Resources<br />

*Pio d’Emilia<br />

**Miki Tanikawa<br />

Anthony Rowley<br />

V. C. Lingam<br />

Naruhiko Kurimura<br />

Roger Schreffler<br />

Paul H<strong>of</strong>f<br />

November 2005 list <strong>of</strong> committee members<br />

Cathe Johnson<br />

Ernest Kepper<br />

Martin Koelling<br />

ITPC<br />

*Khaldon Azhari<br />

*Martyn Williams<br />

Dan Sloan<br />

Dennis Normile<br />

Steven Herman<br />

Miki Tanikawa<br />

Jason Testar<br />

Roger Williams<br />

David du Verle<br />

Jean-Guy Rioux<br />

Library, Archives<br />

& Workroom<br />

(Nakayama)<br />

*Jack Russell<br />

*Julian Ryall<br />

**Dennis Normile<br />

Suvendrini Kakuchi<br />

Hiroyasu Tomaru<br />

Koichi Ishiyama<br />

Khaldon Azhari<br />

Regis Arnaud<br />

Catherine Makino<br />

Joachim Bergstrom<br />

Roger Schreffler<br />

Haruko Watanabe<br />

Nobuko Hara<br />

Membership<br />

*Robert Neff<br />

*James Treece<br />

**Steven Herman<br />

Kazuo Abiko<br />

Raffaera Scaglietta<br />

Membership<br />

Marketing Advisory<br />

*Monzurul Huq<br />

**Yoshisuke Iinuma<br />

Anthony Rowley<br />

Jack Spillum<br />

Michiko Mitarai<br />

T.W. Kang<br />

John Harris<br />

Cindy Mullins<br />

Movie<br />

*Joy Waitkus<br />

Darryl Gibson<br />

Roy Garner<br />

Edwin Karmiol<br />

Mitsuru Sakuraba<br />

Per Bodner<br />

Joachim Bergstrom<br />

Iain Mitchell<br />

PAC<br />

*Martyn Williams<br />

*Jim Brooke<br />

**Jim Brooke<br />

Anthony Rowley<br />

Alan Brender<br />

Andrew Horvat<br />

Benjamin Fulford<br />

Dan Sloan<br />

Dennis Normile<br />

Eiichiro Tokumoto<br />

Eric Johnston<br />

Fred Varcoe<br />

Fuyuko Nishisato<br />

Gabrielle Kennedy<br />

Gebhard Hielscher<br />

Glenn Davis<br />

Go Kawasaki<br />

Gregory Clark<br />

Hans van der Lugt<br />

Haruko Watanabe<br />

Henry Scott-Stokes<br />

Iain Mitchell<br />

James Simms<br />

James Treece<br />

Jason Testar<br />

Julian Ryall<br />

Justin McCurry<br />

Kazue Suzuki<br />

Keiji Matsushima<br />

Khaldon Azhari<br />

Ko Shioya<br />

Martin Fackler<br />

Martin Koelling<br />

Martyn Williams<br />

Masaaki Fukunaga<br />

Mary Corbett<br />

Miki Tanikawa<br />

Monzurul Huq<br />

Murray Sayle<br />

Nami Tsuiki<br />

Naoaki Usui<br />

Nicole Bastian<br />

Nobuko Hara<br />

Pio d'Emilia<br />

Regis Arnaud<br />

Richard Smith<br />

NOVEMBER REGULAR MEMBERS<br />

Jonathan Head, BBC<br />

Saki Ouchi, Yomiuri Shimbun<br />

Jagjeet Dhaliwall, Bloomberg News<br />

Wayne S. Graczyk, Baseball America<br />

PROFESSIONAL/JOURNALIST<br />

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS<br />

Caroline Pover, Caroline Pover, Inc.<br />

Setsuro Tamai, IDG <strong>Japan</strong>, Inc.<br />

Tomoko Oka, World Fashion Dynamics<br />

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS<br />

Sanjeev Sinha, UBS Investment Bank<br />

Eiji Tsuchiya, Amway <strong>Japan</strong> Ltd.<br />

Tomoki Komine<br />

Commonwealth Engineers Co., Ltd.<br />

Shigeru Itoh, Waseda University<br />

Saburo Kano<br />

Dentsu Young & Rubicam Inc.<br />

Masashi Suda<br />

NYK Global Bulk Corporation<br />

Haruo Yamamoto<br />

Mitsui Bussan Solvent & Coating Co., Ltd.<br />

Chieko Hashimoto, Hiromori Inc.<br />

Takeshi Matsunaga<br />

NYK Global Bulk Corporation<br />

Yukiyoshi Watanabe, Isfnet, Inc.<br />

Hirotada Seyama, Tokan Corporation<br />

Atsushi Yoshimoto<br />

ITID Consulting, Ltd.<br />

Yukihiro Miyazaki<br />

Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance Company<br />

REINSTATED ASSOCIATE MEMBER<br />

Graham John Roger Pike<br />

Forefront Technologies K. K.<br />

Robert Kirschenbaum<br />

Roger Schreffler<br />

Shiro Yoneyama<br />

Steve McClure<br />

T.W. Kang<br />

Tony McNicol<br />

Yoshisuke Iinuma<br />

(Wayne Hunter)<br />

(Chung Hyon Suk)<br />

Publications<br />

*Justin McCurry<br />

**Khaldon Azhari<br />

David McNeill<br />

Tony McNicol<br />

Gabrielle Kennedy<br />

Androniki Christodoulou<br />

Eric Prideaux<br />

Leo Lewis<br />

Swadesh DeRoy<br />

Scholarship and<br />

Young Journalist<br />

* Yukari Iwatani-Kane<br />

*Alan Brender<br />

**Dan Sloan<br />

Special Project<br />

*Haruko Watanabe<br />

**Dan Sloan<br />

Naotake Nobuhara<br />

Steve McClure<br />

Jack Russell<br />

Yoshisuke Iinuma<br />

Julian Ryall<br />

Michiyo Nakamoto<br />

Sports<br />

*Fred Varcoe<br />

WAC<br />

*Atsuko DeRoy<br />

*Sandra Mori<br />

FPIJ<br />

*Richard Lloyd Parry<br />

(The Times)<br />

Key<br />

*Chair<br />

**Board Liaison<br />

***Chair and Board<br />

Liaison<br />

Note:<br />

The names <strong>of</strong><br />

committee chairs<br />

and liaison members<br />

were accurate as the<br />

Number One Shimbun<br />

went to press.

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