 Political pressure forced NHK to alter TV program: NHK producer NHK producer Nagai Satoru revealed at a press conference on January 13 how the two Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers pressured NHK to alter the TV program of a mock trial over Japan's wartime sex slavery system. In late January 2001, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe Shinzo and House of Representatives member Nakagawa Shoichi requested Nojima Naoki (director general in charge of relations with Diet members) and other NHK executives to come to see them. The two LDP politicians strongly urged them to cancel the TV program. Considering that the LDP was about to begin discussing the NHK budget for the next fiscal year, Nojima and Matsuo Takeshi, executive director general of broadcasting, visited Abe and Nakagawa on the afternoon of January 29, the day before the program was aired. The two senior NHK officials explained the contents of the TV program to Abe and Nakagawa and requested their understanding. But Abe and Nakagawa did not give the green light. Matsuo asked the LDP politicians for permission to air the program after making some changes. After 6:00 p.m. on that day, Nojima, Matsuo, program production official Ito Ritsuko, and Nagai Satoru who was running the desk previewed the program which was ready to air. The following contents were altered: The tribunal's verdict holding Emperor Hirohito responsible for the war was completely deleted; Some footages of comments by Yoneyama Lisa, an associate professor at the University of California appearing as a commentator in the program, were cut out; And an interview with Hata Ikuhiko, a professor at Japan University, who denied the significance of the "Women's International War Crimes Tribunal", was added. "We reworked the program again and again at the instruction of the boss, but it was just a matter of editing," said Nagai. He told reporters that the nature of revisions changed after January 29. As a result, the 44-minute program was shortened to 43 minutes. The Day of broadcast The demand to alteration did not stop. On the day of the broadcast, Takeshi Matsuo, an executive director general of broadcasting, ordered three more minutes cut. The ordered cuts included: introduction of Chinese victims and their testimonies; introduction of brothels in East Timor and testimonies of former comfort women; and testimonies of Japanese soldiers as perpetrators. The staff on the program opposed these changes, but their objection was overridden. The intervention by the two politicians substantially undermined the key thesis of the program. NHK continues to argue, "The changes in the program were based on NHK's own volition." Nagai, however, emphasized that that was not true. (end) |