Media and Politics in Japan

Japan is one of the most media-saturated societies in the world. The circulations of its "big five" national newspapers dwarf those of any major American newspaper. Its public service broadcasting agency, NHK, is second only to the BBC in size. And it has a full range of commercial television stations, high-brow and low-brow magazines, and a large anti-mainstream media and mini-media. Japanese elites rate the mass media as the most influential group in Japanese society. But what role do they play in political life? Whose interests do the media serve? Are the media mainly servants of the state, or are they watchdogs on behalf of the public? And what effects do the media have on the political beliefs and behavior of ordinary Japanese people? These questions are the focus of this collection of essays by leading political scientists, sociologists, social psychologists, and journalists. Japan's unique __kisha__ (press) club system, its powerful media business organizations, the uses of the media by Japan's wily bureaucrats, and the role of the media in everything from political scandals to shaping public opinion, are among the many subjects of this insightful and provocative book.

The concept of security has undergone significant change in the past few decades. Traditionally thought of in terms of the state-centric, militarily focused, realist discourse, the concept of security has been broadened to include a greater number of potential threats and an increased number of relevant actors. Yet, despite the great changes in security scholarship, the vast majority of studies on North Korea continue to focus primarily on the country’s nuclear weapons program, its military, and other traditional security issues surrounding Pyongyang. While North Korea captures headlines with its aggressive behavior and growing nuclear arsenal, the ground-level threats to average, everyday North Koreans go largely unnoticed. This groundbreaking volume seeks to refocus research on North Korean security from the traditional to largely unexplored non-traditional security (NTS) issues.

In the wake of political succession to Kim Jung Un, the issue of non-traditional security is increasingly important. From the lasting effects of the famine of the 1990s to continued food shortages and the growing marketization of North Korean society, the Pyongyang regime is facing diverse and unprecedented challenges. This book offers cutting-edge analyses of emerging North Korean NTS issues by the world's leading specialists in the field. It looks at these issues and their effects at the local, regional, and international level, as well as examining the international community’s efforts to promote an NTS approach to North Korea. More specifically, the volume addresses the traditional and non-traditional security paradigms, energy security, gender security, transnational organized crime, the internal and external dimensions of North Korea’s food security, the "Responsibility to Protect," refugee issues and international law, and the role of NGOs in promoting NTS in North Korea.

As the global community begins to move toward a more people-centered approach to security and foreign policy, work such as that presented in this thought-provoking volume will be increasingly vital to scholars, policymakers, and interested citizens.

Japan is one of the most media-saturated societies in the world. The circulations of its "big five" national newspapers dwarf those of any major American newspaper. NHK, its public service broadcasting agency, is second only to the BBC in size. And it has a full range of commercial television stations, high-brow and low-brow magazines (from widely read intellectual journals to the ubiquitous manga, or adult comic books), and a large antimainstream media and mini-media. Japanese elites, surveys show, rate the mass media as the most influential group in Japanese society. But what role do they play in political life? Whose interests do the media serve? As Japan's critics often hold, are they mainly servants of the state? Or are they watchdogs on behalf of the public, as the media themselves claim and as suggested by their role in uncovering late eighties and early nineties political scandals and in triggering political change in the summer of 1993? And what effects do the media have on the political beliefs and behavior of ordinary Japanese people? These questions, central for interpreting the media's role in any industrial society, are the focus of this collection of essays by leading political scientists, sociologists, social psychologists, and journalists. Japan's unique kisha (press) club system, its powerful media business organizations, the uses of the media by Japan's wily bureaucrats, and the role of the media in everything from political scandals to shaping public opinion, are among the many subjects of this insightful and provocative book. CONTENTS Tables Preface Part I. The Mass Media and Japan Introduction: Media and Politics in Japan: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives 1. Media as Trickster in Japan: A Comparative Perspective Part II. Media Organizations and Behavior 2. Mass Media as Business Organizations: A U.S.–Japanese Comparison 3. Portraying the State: NHK Television News and Politics Part III. The Role of the Media in Politics and Policy 4. Japan’s Press and the Politics of Scandal 5. Television and Political Turmoil: Japan’s Summer 6. Media and Policy Change in Japan 7. Media and Political Protest: The Bullet Train Movements 8. Media Coverage of U.S.–Japanese Relations Part IV. Media and the Public 9. Media Exposure and the Quality of Political Participation in Japan 10. Media in Electoral Campaigning in Japan and the United States 11. Media Agenda Setting in a Local Election: The Japanese Case Part V. Media and Politics 12. The Mass Media and Japanese Politics: Effects and Consequences Contributors Index