Japan’s kisha clubs: information cartels | Timothy Hornyak | RONJIRU JAPAN

Freelance writer, journalist and author, Timothy Hornyak, outlines one of the major differences between journalism in Japan and other countries in this excerpt from Episode 5 of the RONJIRU JAPAN podcast. The Japanese kisha club (“reporter’s club”) system functions as a way for institutions better to control the content and timing of the information that makes the news.

Timothy describes the kisha club system as a kind of information cartel, talks about why it is in place, and also covers some of the criticisms leveled against it—mainly that it traditionally has admitted only members of the established major Japanese media, leaving smaller publications and foreign journalists without access to the information first hand.

But times are changing, gradually. Some non-Japanese media outlets have managed to get into certain kisha clubs, while other Japanese media have begun choosing to stop self-censoring to keep their access, and instead cover the information in a way that cannot be controlled.

And of course, blogs, social media, podcasts and video platforms are ushering in a new paradigm. These new technologies are chipping away at the old style of controlled media, and more people are ignoring the corporate power structures that existed in the past, and doing a great job.

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