October 27 & 29, 2021

Japanese Communist Party Press Service Department Head Ueki Toshio on October 26 protested against two conservative newspapers, the Sankei Shimbun and the Yomiuri Shimbun, over the advertising of a magazine that unjustly attacks the party.

The right-leaning monthly magazine “Hanada” in its latest issue carried two articles which used insulting, anti-JCP titles, such as “The JCP, white ants ruining Japan”.

Sankei and Yomiuri, respectively, printed the advertisement of the Hanada’s latest issue in their morning papers dated on the day.

JCP Ueki in his protest criticized the two dailies’ act for defaming the party. He referred to the ethical guidelines for newspaper ads set by the Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association. The guidelines prohibit any ads that may be detected as a lie, breed misunderstanding, and commit libel. He demanded an apology from the two papers.

On the following day, Ueki also filed a similar protest with the Nikkei Shimbun, East Japan Railway Company (JR East), and the subway company Tokyo Metro.

The Nikkei, Japan’s leading financial newspaper, carried the controversial ads on October 27. JR East and Tokyo Metro displayed the ads on their trains.