
"Closing the Shop" by Laurie Anne Freeman
TokyoFreePress, November 09 2005 @ 04:15 AM, by Y.Yamamoto
....a first-hand accounts of the abode of demons of the Japanese press has been published is already something like a blessing from heaven. For the Japanese media it's an ultimate taboo to talk about themselves, let alone publish it.
...quite revealing of the truth about the Japanese press. The author tells here how she could sneak into kisha (press) clubs attached to the Liberal Democratic Party, the Diet, and the Prime Minister's office. Some journalists at the Asahi Shimbun, who understandably wanted to remain anonymous throughout the book, helped Freeman get into these exclusive clubs as a "participant observer."...more...