Week in Review

04.05.05
Movie Company Scoops Up Outstanding Shares in Fuji TV

From UCLA Asia Media: A top stakeholder in Fuji Television Network upped its shares to more than 7 percent on April 4, apparently answering the company’s call to stave off a Livedoor Co. takeover. Toho Co., a major movie distributor and producer in Japan, bought 1.4 percent of the outstanding shares in Fuji TV to become the TV network’s third-largest investor. Livedoor, an Internet service provider, recently achieved its hostile takeover bid for Nippon Broadcasting System Inc., which, like Fuji TV, is a major asset of the Fujisankei media group.
— By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Erica Ogg
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04.03.05
NHK Replaces Entire Board of Directors

From Daily Yomiuri: On April 1, NHK President Genichi Hashimoto declared a new board of directors for the public broadcaster following an emergency session he called with the station’s management committee. According to Hashimoto, the quickness and unusual method of the replacement showed that the broadcaster was “caked with mud.” A number of scandals involving NHK employees caused many subscribers to stop paying their viewing fees. The new board of directors consists of all new faces, which indicates an attempt to rebuild viewers’ trust. All the board members under former NHK President Katsuji Ebisawa are now gone. In addition, Hashimoto appointed Toyohiko Harada, chief of NHK’s Nagoya bureau, who had reportedly distanced himself from Ebisawa. Critics say that replacing members of the board does not represent a total transformation of the public broadcaster. As Hashimoto pointed out, the pressing issue that some viewers pay the fee while others refuse still remains to be solved.
— By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
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04.01.05
Asahi Censors Ad Accusing Paper of ‘Checkbook Journalism’

From The Japan Times: A partly blacked-out, quarter-page advertisement for a new weekly issue of Shukan Bunshun was published in the March 31 issue of The Asahi Shimbun. The magazine issue’s main story accused Asahi of “checkbook journalism” for accepting money from consumer loan company Takefuji Corp. to publish a year-long series of articles. Shukan Bunshun’s original headline read “People call it black journalism, 50 million yen that Asahi Shimbun received from Takefuji in ‘backdoor ad fee,’” and ran in many other major dailies. The ad in Asahi appeared without the phrase “People call it black journalism.” The newspaper says it does publish ads that defame its articles only when it considers them to be appropriate. Asahi’s advertising department requested that Shukan Bunshun change the headline, but the magazine declined, which resulted in the blacked-out passage by Asahi’s ad agency. Asahi admitted that it used 50 million yen ($460,000) from Takefuji for a series of articles in its weekly magazine, Shukan Asahi, from 2000 to 2001 without revealing the sponsor. But the newspaper claimed the Shukan Bunshun’s accusations were baseless. In response, Shukan Bunshun said, “The attitude of rejecting reports of facts that are unfavorable to the company could lead to the suppression of the freedom of speech and expression.”
— By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
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Week In Review

03.31.05
Livedoor, NBS Meet; 3 NBS Board Members Quit

From Kyodo News via Japan Today: Nippon Broadcasting Systems (NBS) reported that three board members have left the company for “personal reasons.” Some critics are speculating that they may have quit in response to Internet service provider Livedoor Co. gaining a controlling stake in the company, according to Kyodo News.
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The Yomiuri Shimbun reported Wednesay that Livedoor President Takafumi Horie and NBS President Akinobu Kamebuchi met Tuesday for the first official talks since Livedoor purchased a controlling stake in NBS on Feb. 8. The meeting was reportedly held at the request of Livedoor. Sources also said that NBS, though it agreed to the meeting, would like to continue its relationship with Fujisankei Communications Group.
–By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Erica Ogg
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03.29.05
Rail Company and Bank Plan All-In-One IC Card

From The Japan Times: East Japan Railway Co. and Mizuho Bank announced a joint venture Monday, an integrated circuit (IC) card with debit and credit features that also doubles as a train ticket. The two companies said the new Mizuho Suica card can be linked to Mizuho savings accounts and used at View Altte ATMs in Japan Railway East stations. Train fares can be purchased and added like a debit card. IC tag technology is growing swiftly in popularity in Japan and has previously been introduced in food quality control, crime prevention, ticket sales and identification cards.
— By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Erica Ogg
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03.26.05
Companies Join Blogosphere to Promote Products

From The Yomiuri Shimbun: Japanese companies like Nissan and toymaker Sanrio are blogging to promote their products in a casual, accessible style. Nissan’s temporary blog project promoting a new car became a marketing tool after it received more hits than expected. And Sanrio’s famous cartoon character Hello Kitty has even connected with fans on a blog. Tokyo-based eNatural’s blogging service caters to corporations and has seen a spike in interest in business blogs over the past few months, said eNatural President Shinya Saito. Blogs are also said to be helpful to small companies because they are simple to maintain, cut Web site costs and provide in-house communication. Company blogs have made use of features like the track back function, which directs people to information of interest on other blogs.
— By Japan Media Review Managing Editor Shellie Branco
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Week in Review

03.16.05
NHK Budget Passes Despite Outcry Over Scandals

From The Asahi Shimbun: The Japanese legislature passed scandal-plagued NHK’s 2005 budget despite opposition from three political parties and the broadcaster’s worries that more of its subscribers could flee. NHK stands to lose billions of yen if up to 700,000 viewers refuse to pay mandatory fees by month’s end, as the broadcaster has projected. The number of nonpayers increased by more than 150,000 over February, according to figures from NHK executive Sosuke Nakayama. Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), the Social Democratic Party and the Japanese Communist Party dismissed NHK’s explanation of a scandal over a documentary allegedly altered over political pressure. The broadcaster’s slow handling of the situation brought more trouble, as did another scandal in which NHK employees misused viewer funds. While in the past it was standard for the parties to unanimously approve NHK’s budget, only the powerful Liberal Democratic Party pushed the budget through. NHK plans to cut salaries and production costs to handle its financial troubles.
–By Japan Media Review Managing Editor Shellie Branco
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03.15.05
Fuji TV, Livedoor Spat a Historical Power Play in Making

From The Asahi Shimbun: Fuji Television Network’s “scorched earth” strategy — dumping company assets to become a less attractive acquisition for Internet portal Livedoor Co. — may be a sign of the Net gaining dominance over other media, according to Asahi’s “Vox Populi, Vox Dei” column. A court ruling stopped takeover target Nippon Broadcasting from issuing equity warrants to shareholder Fuji, but Fuji’s board of directors plans to raise its stock price as one strategy to shield itself from a takeover, according to an article in The Japan Times. It’s a generational power struggle between Livedoor and the established broadcaster, following a historical pattern of media power plays, “Vox Populi” notes. Newspapers, once the most powerful medium, lost their dominance and became relatively equal in influence to TV after World War II. The Internet may do the same to TV’s reach, although consumers will decide upon such an outcome according to the services the two media offer. It’s still up in the air whether the outcome will revolutionize entire industries.
–By Japan Media Review Managing Editor Shellie Branco
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03.10.05
Japanese Companies Compete Over Powerline Internet

From Reuters: Three Japanese electronics manufacturers are competing with an alliance of 50 global companies to provide high speed Internet through electricity power lines in homes. Through their own SECA powerline alliance, Sony, Mitsubishi and Matsushita (Panasonic) have developed an alternative network that is three times faster and more stable than wireless Internet. Competing alliance HomePlug, which includes Japanese company Sharp, uses a standard that is not compatible with SECA and only uses 14 Megabits per second compared to SECA’s 170 Mbps. HomePlug is said to be building a faster product. Sony is also part of the HomePlug alliance, but didn’t comment on whether it would be part of both. SECA’s introduction to the market now depends on government approval, said Panasonic researcher Ingo Chmielewski at the CeBIT electronics trade fair.
–By Japan Media Review Managing Editor Shellie Branco
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03.10.05
Former NHK Producer Pleads Guilty To Embezzlement

From The Japan Times: A former NHK chief producer pled guilty for stealing 19 million yen ($182,000) from the public broadcaster between 2000 and 2001. According to prosecutors at the Tokyo District Court trial on March 9, former employee Katsumi Isono embezzled money from the broadcaster by claiming to pay for fake program scripts written by entertainment company president Hisayuki Uehara, who also pled guilty as an accessory to the crime. Prosecutors said Isono fabricated the scam to finance an extra-marital relationship, while Uehara used his share to cover financial problems. In addition, Isono, fired earlier this month, has been prosecuted in three other cases for taking 38.9 million yen ($373,000) total from NHK. The company’s own investigation found that Isono had committed fraud equalling 100 million yen ($960,000). “I loved my job in the broadcasting business,” Isono said in court. “But I lost everything because I lacked consciousness of norms.” He acknowledged that the fraud damaged viewers’ trust in NHK. A series of frauds within the broadcaster has led hundreds of thousands of viewers to refuse payment of their mandatory viewer fees.
–By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
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03.09.05
Internet Drastically Alters Job Hunting

From Japan Today via Kyodo News: According to the Japan Business Federation, more than 60 percent of major companies accept online applications, and more companies now offer initial exams via the Internet. More students use specialized job-hunting Web sites as more than more than 80 percent of companies have contracts with those sites. Six thousand companies offer information on Recnavi, one of 10 job-search sites run by Recruit Co., to which the popularity of the Internet has brought more applicants. For instance, Fujitsu, a world-wide information technology corporation, has received 80,000 applicants, three times more than before, and Shiseido Co., a cosmetics company, has received 40,000 applications, 10 times more than usual. The online process has shown downsides, however. “Information obtained by using the five senses is several times more valuable than Internet information,” said an official from Tokio Marine and Nichido Fire Insurance Co. An official at the Japan Business Federation echoed, “Really good personnel cannot be hired with employment dependent on information technology.”
–By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
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03.08.05
Fuji TV Wins Management Control

From The Asahi Shimbun: Fuji Television Network announced today the company had secured more than 36 percent of Nippon Broadcasting Systems stock, giving it the sought-after veto power the company needed to keep Livedoor Co. at bay. The companies now await a court decision to be announced sometime this week filed by Livedoor. The Internet service provider requested that a judge stop Nippon Broadcasting from issuing additional stock shares, which would reduce Livedoor’s stake from 45 percent to less than 20 percent. If the judge agrees with Livedoor’s arguments, no more shares will be issued and Fuji TV and Livedoor will have equal shares in Nippon Broadcasting, effectively neutralizing each other’s voting rights. Senior Livedoor officials said they plan to continue buying stock in Nippon Broadcasting until they reach their goal of 50 percent ownership. Even if Livedoor achieves its goal, Fuji TV will still wield veto power because it owns more than 33 percent of the overall stock. Livedoor has been engaged in a public fight over Nippon Broadcasting with Fuji TV since February when the online company made a surprise after-hours bid for NBS shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
–By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Erica Ogg
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03.05.05
Blogs Blossom in Japan With Cash Rewards

From The Asahi Shimbun: Blogging is a rapidly growing trend in Japan. According to new surveys, 93.7 percent of Japanese Internet users were not aware of blogs as of February 2004, but by November of the same year, 60 percent had heard of blogs. Now the number of bloggers in Japan is estimated at 1 million. While most bloggers write their personal journals for fun and not for pay, blog-hosting firm Ameba Blog rewards its most popular blog sites with cash prizes. Known by the nickname “Kazuma,” a 32-year-old blogger who published the true story of his controlling wife earned 1.34 million yen ($12,800) in awards in four months. Shin Suda, creative director at Cyber Agent, an Internet advertising firm that launched Ameba Blog, explained that the late-comer blog-hosting company needed unique features so they came up with a monetary prize system that “lets bloggers compete among themselves.” Ameba Books, an affiliated firm specializing in publishing online content in book format, decided to print Kazuma’s popular online diary. The book has sold more than 50,000 copies so far. “The Internet and books are very different formats with different audiences,” said Suda. “It’s very tiresome to read long transcripts on the computer, whereas it’s very nice to have a solid book by your side you can turn to whenever you want.”
–By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
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