akahata

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Akahata, the only national paper defending Article 9

Since the "Article 9 Association" was founded in 2004, the nationwide movement to defend Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution has been developing on an unprecedented scale. Akahata is the only national newspaper that has been consistently reporting its activities throughout Japan calling for the defense of Article 9.

On June 10, the Article 9 Association held in Tokyo its first national exchange meeting in which about 1,500 people participated, representing more than 5,000 local associations. Akahata reported the rally in detail on the front page the next day.

In contrast, Asahi Shimbun, a major national newspaper, carried only a short news piece consisting of 12 lines to report the important event.

A well-known critic appreciated Akahata's report and criticized the Asahi coverage by saying, "It is nothing other than ignoring the Article 9 Association movement in which more than 5,000 associations are active nationwide. Asahi has given large space to positively reporting the moves to revise the Constitution and the Fundamental Law of Education, and it ridicules citizens' movements that oppose such moves. This is totally unacceptable."

On October 18, 2005, Sankei Shimbun, that has been hoisting a flag of constitutional revision "reviewed" editorials on the Constitution in Asahi, Mainichi Newspapers, Yomiuri Shimbun, and Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and concluded, "Advocates of the protection of the Constitution have disappeared."

When the Liberal Democratic Party published its draft of a new constitution last November, Yomiuri, Nikkei, and Sankei, which have all advocated constitutional revision, expressed their admiration for it by stating that it is "a significant basis for national discussion" (Yomiuri). Asahi and Mainichi only pointed out the need for the LDP to find a way to persuade the public. Akahata was the only national paper that sharply criticized the draft, in defense of the Constitution.
- Akahata, June 28, 2006