JanJan is modeled closely after another online publication that has attracted millions of readers and worldwide media attention: Korea's 3-year-old OhmyNews, which recently helped political outsider Roh Moo Hyun win the presidency in South Korea. OhmyNews has 10,000 citizen reporters and gets 14 million page views a day -- though South Korea has just 40 million residents. "We very much want to follow in OhmyNews' footsteps here in Japan," says Takeuchi. "The most important thing we emulated was their citizen-reporter model. We hope JanJan will become in Japan the kind of media that OhmyNews is now in Korea." But JanJan faces a roadblock OhmyNews didn't have to deal with: While about 70 percent South Korean homes have broadband access to the Internet and many South Koreans regularly turn to the Internet for news, most Japanese don't regularly use the Web. About 80 percent of people surveyed recently by Japan's public broadcaster NHK said they had never used the Internet. "Internet usage in Japan very much lags other countries," Takeuchi said. "Admittedly, the business model for our type of endeavor in Japan is completely unproven." But he's not letting that stop him. "I believe that in the coming years a new form of government will emerge in Japan," he says -- and JanJan will help lead the way. "Our basic philosophy at JanJan is to foster the creation of citizen-centered government. We don't intend to provide the same reporting coverage of traditional media. Rather, we hope to supplement what is lacking in the leading dailies. What we hope is that the topics we write about will be picked up and reported on further by the mass media. If we can accomplish that, I think we will have fulfilled our mission." Takeuchi says he does not yet have traffic numbers for JanJan. Takeuchi's crusade to create an alternative newspaper in Japan is both personal and professional. For 20 years he worked as a reporter, covering politics for Asahi Shimbun, the world's second-largest newspaper. Takeuchi was critical of Japan's controversial "press club" system, which limits reporter access to sources, and encourages journalists not to be overly critical of the people and institutions they cover. The press club system means government ministries, corporations, political parties and other institutions provide office facilities and desks free of charge to reporters who are members of the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association (NSK). In return, club reporters enjoy exclusive access to press releases, but are bound by an unspoken agreement to maintain the original source's spin on the news, he said. The press club -- or kisha system -- leads to soft journalism that doesn't serve the reader, he said. "I felt I had to do something about the press club system, but I wasn't able to accomplish much in this respect while I was working as a newspaper reporter," Takeuchi says. "When I became mayor of Kamakura, I began my reform program by insisting that the press club pay for the space they were using at City Hall. Next, we made space available to any and all reporters, rather than just members of a specific press club." At about the same time, Nagano Prefecture Governor Yasuo Tanaka also reformed the press club system in Nagano. And the NSK announced it would also reform the press club system, but those reforms have yet to appear, Takeuchi said. "Outside of Kamakura and Nagano, Japan's press club system remains almost unchanged today," he said. Frustrated, Takeuchi decided to switch careers and start Japan Internet News Co. But launching an online newspaper is one thing -- transforming it into a medium with real political punch is quite another. While OhmyNews's citizen-reporter model works in Korea, cultural differences mean it might not do so well in Japan. "Koreans love to express their opinions," notes Miki Imazu, a Tokyo-based consultant who has conducted market research in Korea. "Koreans always want to talk about whatever is going on in the world. It's almost as though Korea is a culture where every citizen wants to be a politician. It's a national character trait -- and the polar opposite of the Japanese personality." Takeuchi agrees his readers -- and citizen-reporters -- are quite different from their counterparts in Korea. "People in their 20s and 30s using the Internet played a key role in Korea's most recent presidential election," says Takeuchi. "That forward-looking, liberal group of young people is very well defined and constitutes a potent political force in Korea today. They are dissatisfied with the existing political establishment and clear about their intentions to create a new order in government. What's more, they are capable of translating their feelings into action. Japanese people are not yet able to do that. That's why what we are attempting with JanJan is so difficult." Tim Clark writes the Japan Entrepreneur Report and is a senior fellow at Tokyo-based SunBridge Venture Habitat, a leading investor in emerging IT businesses.
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