Although Japan rose three places in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index, it still ranks only 68th out of 180 countries and territories surveyed in Reporters Without Borders’ annual survey. This puts the world’s third-largest economy at the bottom of the G7 countries in terms of press freedom, placing it between Lesotho and Panama on the list.
According to scholars and journalists, Japan’s demands for press freedom are significantly weakened by the “press club system” of government-approved ministers.
The “Kisha kurabu”, a so-called press club, dates back to 1890 and journalists were banned from access by the First Imperial Parliament. In response, journalists banded together, with the support of media companies, to form the first press club. These clubs usually consist of journalists working in major Japanese media companies.
Members have exclusive access to official sources, and to maintain this access they must follow the official government line.
This situation indicates that only obedient reporters can get access to the information and biased news coverage happens frequently. I think there is only one way left, which is disbanding the press club and allowing any official journalists to enter. It leads to controversial coverages in a good way, in which some agree with a topic, but some disagree with it.