Written half a century ago, a book delving into journalistic issues from the perspective of a news agency editor is continuing to provide precious lessons to contemporary readers about the challenges of the news media.

"Editor's Diary," first published in the 1960s, shows the process through which newspapers decided what stories to run on the front page or discard, and how editors and reporters struggled to depict the social events in the turbulent days when Japan was grappling with issues including its security policy in the nuclear age, environmental pollution amid high economic growth and the Vietnam War.

The five-volume diary from December 1963 to October 1968, written as an inside report by Jiro Kowada, the pen name of Toshio Hara, who served as an editor of the city news section at Kyodo News and later became editor-in-chief, contributed to improving media literacy in those days.