Word: bungei
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...There is a long history between the Tanaka family and Bungei Shunju, Bunshun's parent publishing company. In 1974 the monthly Bungei Shunju ran an expos? of a bribery scandal that ultimately toppled Kakuei Tanaka, Makiko's father and one of the most influential Prime Ministers in Japanese history. And just two years ago, Shukan Bunshun's special report on alleged fraud by the then Foreign Minister Makiko drove PM Junichiro Koizumi to remove her. (A court threw out charges stemming from the story, which accused Makiko of pocketing her secretary's salary...
Akihito's accession had been meant to herald a new era in which the imperial office would be free of the controversy that surrounded his father, Emperor Hirohito, for his role in World War II. But it coincided with the publication in the magazine Bungei Shunju of some recently discovered notes on conversations between Hirohito and aides in 1946, in which he discussed his role prior to Pearl Harbor. "It was unavoidable for me as a constitutional monarch," he said, "to do anything but give approval to the Tojo Cabinet on the decision to start the war." Had he opposed...
...largest rivals compete for scoops in the go-getter fashion of Fleet Street. Yet the Japanese newspapers can be cautious, often in concert, to the point of professional embarrassment: the 1974 allegations of financial misconduct that brought down Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka were first exposed in a magazine, Bungei Shunju; the Big Three newspapers did not pick up the story for weeks. Moreover, supposedly competing journals band together in a peculiarly Japanese institution, the "press clubs." At major sources of news (government ministries, political party headquarters, the 47 police prefectures), correspondents from daily newspapers control the flow of information. Though...
...regular contributor, Takashi Tachibana, 34, who has written widely on the Middle East, was commissioned by Bungei-Shunju editors last August to check out rumors that Premier Tanaka had spent huge personal sums to win last July's parliamentary election; the editors could not figure out where Tanaka got all the money. Tachibana was given a staff of 20 to help on the project. Little of what they uncovered was entirely new, but Tachibana's raiders were able to make some intriguing juxtapositions-like Tanaka's ability to accumulate some $10 million worth of homes and villas...
Since the treasure appeared in print, Tachibana has been lionized by interviewers, Bungei-Shunju's circulation has jumped 10%, and collectors are now paying up to $60 for a copy of the historic November issue (actual price: $1.16). Yet only one newspaper, the Communist Party organ Akahata (Red Flag), has since formed an investigative team, and many Japanese doubt that their discreet press will ever develop an appetite for muckraking. Even so, Bungei-Shunju will remain a goad to the complaisant. The magazine's January issue, due on the newsstands next week, contains further disclosures about Tanaka. Managing...