From the Editor

Justin McCurry

Late last year my employer, Guardian News & Media, decided to close its official accounts on X, citing concerns over the “often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism” under the stewardship of Elon Musk. I decided to keep my personal account, although I visit the site a lot less often than I once did, and find myself sifting through large volumes of bilge to get to the subjects that interest me: Japan and UK news and politics, football, cricket, cycling, comedy and, yes, occasional videos of dogs on skateboards. In this month’s cover story, David McNeill speaks to foreign correspondents about their social media use in the age of Musk and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg. Elsewhere, Bob Whiting and Jake Adelstein remember Tsuneo Watanabe, the media titan who died in December, while Raphael Rashid recalls frightening encounters with supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol while covering the country’s political crisis. In their regular columns, Eric Johnston examines what Trump Mark II might mean for Hokkaido, and Philip Brasor dissects a new Tokyo metropolitan government campaign to raise the birth rate. In their debut articles for the Number 1 Shimbun, Takuya Nishimura introduces the delights of the club’s very own Masukomi Sushi Bar, while Gary Bremermann reports on a hugely successful Hacks & Flacks shinnenkai. Mark Schreiber laments the demise of the Yukan Fuji evening tabloid, and we’re delighted to be able to run an extract from Elizabeth Shim’s new book, North Korea’s Nuclear Cinema: Simulation and Neoliberal Politics in the Two Koreas.

Cover artwork by Julio Shiiki - Images: Facebook, Wikipedia.

INDEX

 

The Number 1 Shimbun

February 2025

 

Publisher FCCJ

Editor  Justin McCurry, no.1shimbun@fccj.or.jp

Designer  Julio Kohji Shiiki, www.sedo.co.jp

Website  Paul Braganza

Editorial Assistant  Naomichi Iwamura

Photo coordination  Hiroko Moriwaki

Publications Committee
Justin McCurry (Chair), Suvendrini Kakuchi, David McNeill, Andy Sharp

 

FCCJ Board of Directors

President  Dan Sloan

1st Vice President  Khaldon Azhari

2nd Vice President  Randy Schmidt

Treasurer  Anthony Rowley

Secretary  David M. Umeda

Directors-at-Large
Shuri Fukunaga, Suvendrini Kakuchi, Dave McCombs, Taeko Nagayama

Kanji  Martin Fackler, Knopf Doubleday Publishing & Simon Farrell, Custom Media K.K.

 

FCCJ Committee & Ad-hoc Committee Chairs

Publications  Justin McCurry

Associate Members’ Liaison  Simon Farrell & David Umeda

Entertainment  Jake Adelstein & Simon Farrell

Exhibitions  Peter Lyon

Film  Karen Severns

Finance  Anthony Rowley

Food & Beverage  Shuri Fukunaga & Michiyo Nakamoto

Freedom of Press  David McNeill

House & Property  Khaldon Azhari

Human Resources  Randy Schmidt

Information Technology  Hinza Asif & Yusuke Wada

Library, Archives & Workroom  Suvendrini Kakuchi & Robert Whiting

Membership  Randy Schmidt

Professional Activities  Tetsuo Jimbo & Martin Koelling

DeRoy Memorial Scholarship  Martin Fackler

Compliance  Kunio Hamada & Yoshisuke Iinuma

Election  Yoshisuke Iinuma

Deep Dive  Anthony Rowley

Membership Marketing  Gary Bremermann

Sports  Akihiko Tanabe

 

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan

Marunouchi Nijubashi Building 5F
Marunouchi 3-2-3 Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-0005
Tel: (03) 3211-3161・fccj.or.jp

Published by the FCCJ All opinions contained within the Number 1 Shimbun are those of the authors. As such, these opinions do not constitute an official position of Number 1 Shimbun, the editor or the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.