By about 1930, the clubs themselves had expanded enormously and had begun to act independently of the newspaper companies. Sometimes, when a financially troubled newspaper would try to reduce its staff or a paper would try to fire an incompetent reporter, the club as a whole - including, of course, reporters from other newspapers - would rise up to demand that its member be rehired. There were cases, too, in which the clubs struggled against bureaucratic attempts to thwart the release of information or protested the suppression of free speech when reporters were arrested
\cite{Yamamoto:1989} p386
The domestic market is also protected by the language barrier. \citep{Villi:2015}p8
Fackler in Kingston 2017, p41 Some elements of the story are rooted in the unique history of journalism in Japan, such as the lack of shared professional identity among reporters that let them become instruments for the nuclear establishment's political agenda.
Selective granting of access has also allowed the administration to pursue a divide-and-conquer strategy, in which media organizations try to stay in Abe’s good graces by turning on each other. This is what happened to the Asahi, which lost the will to fight after finding that every other major media outlet had ganged up against it, say journalists in the newspaper. “We found ourselves standing all alone,” said Ryuichi Kitano, a senior Asahi reporter. “The administration didn’t even have to criticize us because the media did it for them.”
The Silencing of Japan’s Free Press https://www.evernote.com/l/AAJA3TXZaJNMhofqk3GZVlnzvkb4578xOx0
Respondents were also asked how to improve Japanese journalism [...] Most journalists (82.9%) noted that there is a clear need to improve journalism education and training in Japan. A majority (52.2%) also thought journalism could be improved by encouraging free expression without organizational restraints [...] journalism training in Japan remains unstructured, largely based upon on-the-job training or apprenticeships [...] Accordingly, almost all journalists receive on-the-job training in the organization that employs them. The virtual absence of schools of journalism in Japan might be recognized as a serious problem
Oi, Fukuda, Sako in Willnat and Weaver
“We are troubled that LDP members have engaged in acts that appear to have placed improper political pressure on media outlets,” IPI Director of Advocacy and Communications Steven M. Ellis said. “Given the fundamental need for independent media in a democracy, we urge Japan’s leaders to ensure that media outlets’ ability to report freely is respected and to take steps to protect that ability.” IPI Jul 2015 In evernote
Research suggests that this is typical of Japanese civil society in general, which it finds characterized by ‘the four smalls’ – small budgets, few full-time employees, small membership base and local range (Pekkanen 2006: 27). Some of the reasons are cultural: for example, the general public does not look favourably on groups oriented toward social issues and most funders notoriously give ‘money with mouth’ (kane wo dasu nara kuchi wo dasu), that is, with strings attached. In addition, civil society groups have difficulty influencing policy because of their own structures(the more members the less political orientation) and the government’s bureaucracy-centred policy-making process (Pekkanen 2006: 20, 130–158). Most importantly, the Japanese state promotes certain community and religious organizations, but not politically oriented groups (Pekkanen 2006), and promotes industry above all else. \cite{Hadl:2009} p72-3
Pekkanen, R. (2006), Japan’s Dual Civil Society, Stanford: Stanford University Press.
These responses shed light on the relationships of the actors involved. Instead of presenting a united front and insisting the government let them treat the incident as a matter internal to the journalism industry, media organizations looked after their own immediate interests and intentionally let the government intervene. Divisions among them appeared to be based along lines of business affiliation rather than practical or ideological differences between print and broadcast media: the strongest attacks against TV Asahi came from the Fuji/Sankei and NTV-Yomiuri Shimbun media groups while both parts of the TBS-Mainichi Shimbun group took a less critical stance. This indicates the groups were more concerned with competition between them than in any threats to the future of their industries. The Shimbun Kyokai's decision to give its award to the Sankei for a story that caused a great deal of commotion but essentially changed nothing relevant to the issue suggests it was really a reward for keeping an upstart competitor in line. @Berger:1995 30--1