Japan Press Weekly

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2011 April 6 - 12 [HISTORY]

NHK must adhere to impartial broadcasts: JCP

Japanese Communist Party Dietmember Yamashita Yoshiki asked if the Nippon Broadcasting (NHK) president is aware of the history of the public broadcaster’s complicity in Japan’s past war of aggression.

In the House of Councilors Budget Committee meeting on March 31 in which the budget for NHK was under discussion, NHK President Matsumoto Masayuki only said that NHK broadcasts programs from a nonpartisan position, evading directly answering Yamashita’s question on NHK’s role during the war.

Matsumoto was appointed to the NHK top post from Japan Railway (JR) Tokai last January. The NHK managerial committee chose him to the post only after a few days of discussion, basing their decision solely on his managerial skills.

Yamashita pointed out, “NHK’s radio broadcast cheered on the war of aggression which took millions of lives in Japan and the rest of Asia.”

The JCP representative said, “Isn’t it important to understand that the regulation in the broadcast law stipulating non-partisanship and independence has been drawn from the lessons of the war and the history of war promotion in broadcasting?”

Matsumoto answered, “We operate based on that point.”

During World War II, NHK uncritically parroted speeches and exaggerated achievements of the military and the government, just as Nazi Germany was doing to drive its people into fanaticism. Based on a reflection of this past use of broadcast media, the Broadcast Law was enacted in 1950.