PRESS CONFERENCE
"The Engima of Japanese Power, Four Decades Later"
Karel van Wolferen, Journalist & Publisher
15:00-16:00 Monday, April 20, 2026
Language: The speech and Q & A will be in English.
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan is happy to welcome back Karel van Wolferen, a former Club president and one of the most influential journalistic thinkers on Japan in modern times.
To the foreign press, he remains best-known for his monumental study Japanese politics and society, The Engima of Japanese Power, which has sold more than 650,000 copies in 11 languages since first published in 1989. In Japanese, he has written on wide-ranging social and political issues in 21 books that have sold some 1.5 million copies. In his native Holland, Karel is currently the publisher of Gezond Verstand, a magazine with 14,000 readers that he says "covers developments that are either not written about in the regular media, or badly distorted if they do."
At the FCCJ, Karel will revisit The Enigma of Japanese Power, sharing his observations and telling us what has and has not changed in Japan since then. He will also share his thoughts on Japan and the world today. Please join us for what promises to be a thought-provoking event.
How to attend:
Please register by emailing front@fccj.or.jp with your name and the name of your media outlet. FCCJ members should also include their membership number. Doors will open 15 minutes before the event.
How to watch online: https://www.youtube.com/c/FCCJchannel/live
How to ask questions: https://forms.gle/wy4o69H3wsAo6EzV9
TV crew: Please make a reservation at front@fccj.or.jp. Doors open for TV crews only at 30 minutes before the event. FCCJ will limit live-streaming of FCCJ-hosted press conferences to Club members only. Non-members will no longer be permitted to live-stream these events. However, non-members may still film for reporting purposes and use footage after the press conference.
Professional Activities Committee