On Oct. 16 a Japanese media tycoon was awarded the Newspaper Culture Prize by the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association (JNPEA) at its 60th general meeting in Nagano.
Tsuneo Watanabe, chairman and editor in chief of The Yomiuri Shimbun, a vernacular daily boasting the largest circulation in the world, won the recognition not only as a renowned political correspondent but also as a shrewd corporate manager responsible for raising the circulation of his daily to 10 million. He had also served as JNPEA chairman.
Less than a month later, however, he was bitterly criticized by the rival Asahi Shimbun. Its Nov. 10 editorial demanded that the Yomiuri reveal all facts related to Watanabe's role in an ill-fated scheme to form a "grand coalition" between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the No. 1 opposition Democratic Party of Japan.