September 9, 2020

The Japan Council of Journalists (JCJ) on September 8 announced that the grand prize of the 63rd JCJ Awards for outstanding journalism will go to Sunday Akahata for its scoop on Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s alleged use of a government-hosted event for entertaining his supporters.

The October 13, 2019 issue of Sunday Akahata revealed that PM Abe invited hundreds of his supporters from his constituency of Yamaguchi to the government-funded cherry blossom-viewing party in Tokyo. With this scoop and follow-up reports, Akahata shed light on the allegation that PM Abe used taxpayers’ money to wine and dine his supporters.

Explaining reasons for selecting Sunday Akahata as the grand prize winner, the JCJ said that Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Tamura Tomoko used the Akahata scoop to grill the Abe government about the allegation in the Diet which contributed to turning the cherry blossom-viewing party scandal into a key issue in national politics. The JCJ pointed out that the investigative report by Akahata uncovered the true nature of the Abe government and had a powerful influence on Dietmembers and people in media.

This is the first time that Akahata won the grand prize while receiving JCJ awards several times in the past. In 2014 Akahata got the award for its series of reports which raised public awareness of exploitative labor practices used by “black corporations” and in 2018 for a revelation that Japan objected to a U.S. plan to downsize its nuclear arsenal.

Past related articles:
> Akahata wins journalism award for revelation of Japan’s objection to US nuclear disarmament plan [July 18, 2018]
> Sunday Akahata wins journalism award for ‘black’ corporation series [July 17, 2014]