Time:
2012 May 17 13:00 - 14:30

Language:
The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with English interpretation

Summary:
PROFESSIONAL LUNCHEON
Makoto Sataka, Journalist
*Hidetoshi Kiyotake, Former Yomiuri Shimbun Journalist

Description:
On April 11 this year, the Yomiuri Shimbun took a small publishing house to court over a 14-year-old book about Japanese financial scandals. The Yomiuri – Japan's largest newspaper, with a circulation of 10 million – had agreed to allow the publisher to reprint the book, Kaicho Wa Naze Jisatsu Shitaka: Kinyu Fuhai Jubaku No Kensho (Why Did the CEO Kill Himself? The Spell of Financial Corruption), which was written by a group of Yomiuri journalists, as part of a series of reissued of important non-fiction works.

But there was a problem: six months after the deal was agreed, the book's lead author, Hidetoshi Kiyotake, made embarrassing public accusations against the Yomiuri group. Having moved from journalism to running the Yomiuri Giants baseball team, he accused the media conglomerate's powerful chairman, Tsuneo Watanabe, of serious violations of his corporate-compliance obligations. The claim got him fired, and his former employer is suing him for 100 million yen in damages.

Now, in a separate suit against Nanatsumori Shokan, the publisher, the Yomiuri is asking the Tokyo District court to dissolve the contract for Kaicho Wa Naze Jisatsu Shitaka. It says proper procedures were not followed when the reprint deal was signed, but the move against a small publishing house raises an obvious question: is the newspaper trying to block publication as an act of retaliation against Mr. Kiyotake, its renegade former reporter and baseball manager?

Join Makoto Sataka, a noted journalist, editor and commentator, who is editorial supervisor on this book, to discuss the case.

Menu:
Chicken Carmelite with Mushroom Sauce and Saffron Rice, Baked Tomato and Green Vegetables,
Seasonal Salad

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