FOR THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW, I WAS EDITOR OF THIS illustrious magazine a few years ago. I quit when I became secretary of the Club. As soon as I was elected secretary this June, FCCJ President Monzurul Huq asked me to become Number 1 Shimbun editor again. I was too shocked (and flattered) to say no. People congratulated me by asking,
“Why would you want to do a thing like that?”
It’s quite simple. Yes, it helps to cover my bar bills and I’m less occupied than before, but the fact is I like the Number 1 Shimbun – and not just as a part of the Club. Of course, to me it’s unthinkable that the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan wouldn’t have a flagship publication to advertise itself, but in the past few years, the Number 1 Shimbun has become one of the best English-language magazines in Japan, if not the best.

I must give thanks to Steve McClure, Bob Neff and Geoff Tudor for maintaining the high standards of the magazine and am pleased that I will be supported by Steve as deputy editor and Geoff as head of the Publications Committee. People are welcome to send any complaints directly to me, but if you don’t like what I have to say, you can always complain to Geoff.

I feel confident that we will get complaints. To me, a publication that fails to incite reactions from its readers is probably sitting on the fence. One of the blessings of the Number 1 Shimbun is that it is an independent magazine and we can publish stuff that won’t get printed elsewhere in Japan.

My aim is to bring you articles about journalism, about media in Japan and beyond, about issues and the way the media handle such issues, and about the Club. Your aim should be to provide me with this stuff (if you do, you can pay your bar bills). I would like to take this magazine to a higher level. To do that, I need your support, practically and spiritually. I need articles, photos, ideas and advertisements. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

Trust me, it’s not. I look forward to hearing from you.

– Fred Varcoe
no.1shimbun@yahoo.com