Political pressure puts press freedom to test

Before dawn on Aug. 15, 1945, Yasuo Yanagisawa was threatened at gunpoint by an Imperial Japanese Army major who ordered him not to air the Imperial Rescript of surrender and instead broadcast an announcement urging the public to resist the expected Allied invasion.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2007/nn20070601f1a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='188'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Hideo Shimizu –

, director of the Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization, announces during a news conference on March 7 the formation of a new subcommittee to prevent fabricated information from being broadcast by TV stations. KYODO PHOTO

The major had taken over NHK's radio in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, pressuring Yanagisawa, then the coordinator of the broadcaster's radio programs, to suppress the Emperor's declaration of defeat.