The magazine of The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan October 2018 · Volume 50 · No. 10 Club with a View (and the final floor plans) Parade from the Past Rumor Roundup Yoshiki’s Battles Remembering the move Alternative facts X Japan rocker to Yurakucho about the new Club speaks out New MembershipCampaign Dining Voucher ¥5,000 to For Introducing ¥20,000 A New Member ¥20,000 Five-Year Associate member ¥10,000 Outside Kanto Associate member ¥5,000 Outside Kanto Regular or Outside Kanto P/J Associate member THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS’ CLUB OF JAPAN Yurakucho Denki Building North 20F, 1-7-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0006, Japan www.fccj.or.jp E-mail: [email protected] Tel: +81-3-3211-3161 Fax: +81-3-3211-3168 Terms & Conditions of Dining Certificate 1) and whose membership is paid-in-full immediately after membership confirmation. 2) Only one certificate per new member will be issued. In case of multiple claims, reward may be split. 3) Certificate may be redeemed at Pen & Quill Dining Room, Main Bar and Masukomi Sushi Bar during the campaign period. 4) Certificate cannot be credited to member’s account and is valid for one use only. 5) Any unused portion of the value is non-refundable. The certificate holder is liable for any amount consumed in excess of the value of the certificate. 6) Certificate valid for 6 months and is non-transferable. FCCJ may end promotion at any time. Please check with the oce to confirm still active. OCTOBER 2018 | FCCJ | 03 In This Issue October 2018 · Volume 50 · No. 10 Publisher FCCJ Front Page Editor Gregory Starr • From the President by Robert Whiting 04 Art Director Kohji Shiiki • Press Freedom News: Myanmar’s Government Editorial Assistant Naomichi Iwamura Photo Coordinator Akiko Miyake Takes a Big Step Backward by Kimberley Phillips Publications Committee Gavin Blair, Co-chair Geoffrey Tudor, Co-chair From the Archives Albert Siegel On the Road to the White House 05 FCCJ BOARD OF DIRECTORS by Charles Pomeroy President Peter Langan, Freelance 1st Vice President Abigail Leonard, Freelance New Membership 2nd Vice President Robert Whiting, Freelance Features Campaign Secretary Daniel Hurst, Freelance Treasurer, Willem Kortekaas, Associate Member Directors-at-Large Khaldon Azhari, PanOrient News Special Section on the Club’s Relocation Daniel Sloan, Nissan Motor/Freelance Mary Corbett, Professional Associate Member Milton Isa, Associate Member Total Recall by Geoff Tudor 06 Dining Voucher Kanji Kazuo Abiko, Freelance Associate Kanji Makoto Honjo, Associate Member ¥5,000 • The Schedule of the Move to the New Premises 07 FCCJ COMMITTEE CHAIRS • 10 Things to Know about the New Premises to For Introducing Associate Members Liaison Keiko Packard, • Some Popular Rumors Harumi Kumagai Compliance Kunio Hamada, Yoshio Murakami ¥20,000 DeRoy Memorial Scholarship Abby Leonard, Welcome to the Club: A Guide to the Facilities 08 A New Member David Satterwhite Entertainment Sandra Mori Exhibition Bruce Osborn Hybrid Goes Hyper by Shan Wang 12 Film Karen Severns, Yukie Kito ¥20,000 Finance Willem Kortekaas Food & Beverage Robert Kirschenbaum, Last Month in Photos 14 Mehdi Bassiri Freedom of Press Abby Leonard House & Property Peter Langan, David Satterwhite Yoshiki is Still Fighting by Julian Ryall 16 Five-Year Associate member Human Resources Willem Kortekaas Information Technology Albert Siegel Library, Archives & Workroom Koichi Ishiyama, Club News Suvendrini Kakuchi ¥10,000 Membership Andrew Horvat, Peter O’Connor • Exhibition: MEIAN—Chiaroscuri Giapponesi 17 Membership Marketing TBD Photographs by Alessandra Maria Bonanotte Professional Activities Tetsuo Jimbo, David McNeill Public Relations Rosa Argyropoulos Publications Gavin Blair, Geoffrey Tudor • New in the Library 18 Outside Kanto Associate member Special Projects Haruko Watanabe • New Members Foreign Press in Japan Robin Harding • Advance Notice for “An American in Paris” ¥5,000 20 Years at 20 Floors: SNL says “Sayonara! 19 Outside Kanto Regular or Outside Kanto P/J Associate member The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan PITCH US YOUR STORY THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS’ CLUB OF JAPAN Yurakucho Denki Building, North Tower 20F, Please send your story ideas to Yurakucho Denki Building North 20F, 1-7-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0006, Japan 1-7-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0006. Tel: (03) 3211-3161 · Fax: (03) 3211-3168 · fccj.or.jp [email protected], www.fccj.or.jp E-mail: [email protected] Tel: +81-3-3211-3161 Fax: +81-3-3211-3168 Published by the FCCJ All opinions contained within and be sure to note whether you have (or Number 1 Shimbun are those of the authors. As such, have access to) visuals. Our rates are ¥20 per Terms & Conditions of Dining Certificate these opinions do not constitute an official position 1) of Number 1 Shimbun, the editor or the published word, ¥20,000 for a front cover photo. and whose membership is paid-in-full immediately after membership confirmation. 2) Only one Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. Photo essays: ¥15,000 for full-page photos and certificate per new member will be issued. In case of multiple claims, reward may be split. Please pitch and send articles and photographs, or address comments to [email protected] ¥5,000 for smaller shots. 3) Certificate may be redeemed at Pen & Quill Dining Room, Main Bar and Masukomi Sushi Bar Read the Number 1 Shimbun online: during the campaign period. 4) Certificate cannot be credited to member’s account and is valid for fccj.or.jp/number-1-shimbun All payments will be made in credit one use only. 5) Any unused portion of the value is non-refundable. The certificate holder is liable for to your member account. any amount consumed in excess of the value of the certificate. 6) Certificate valid for 6 months and is non-transferable. Cover Photo: Kohji Shiiki FCCJ may end promotion at any time. Please check with the oce to confirm still active. 04 | FCCJ | OCTOBER 2018 Front Page It is with great nostalgia that I write this, accusing the government of targeting them given the many memorable events that have because of their religious beliefs. And there taken place here (particularly as I was front was grace: One great moment in our “Denki row witness to many of them). Among the Jidai” took place on Nov. 29, 1985, when the famous individuals who visited were Muham- Crown Prince and Princess Michiko danced mad Ali, Gina Lollabrigida, Ronald Reagan, together at the Club’s 40thanniversary party Willie Nelson, a young and surprisingly articu- in the Capital Tokyo Hotel. late Donald Trump, actor Roger Moore of 007 During the Bubble Era, the world could not fame and assorted Nobel laureates and heads get enough news on Japan, and the journal- of state too numerous to mention. Among ists who frequented the FCCJ were in great From the Japanese, some of the most influential people demand – among them too many fascinating President in the nation gave press conferences here, and diverse characters to name here. In the including Shintaro Ishihara, Hideki Matsui, post-bubble era, however, as the Japanese Dear members, figure skaters Mao Asada and Yuzuru Hanyu, juggernaut slowed and China’s economic actor Ken Watanabe, Tokyo governor-to-be clout grew, the dawn of digitalization and the n the absence of President Peter Langan Yuriko Koike, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizu- decline of print journalism, combined with and First Vice President Abby Leonard, I mi, animation film director Hayao Miyazaki, yet another financial crisis in 2008, proved to I am writing the last President’s Message and a host of others. Donald Richie and Ed be the kiss of death for many foreign bureaus to be issued from the Yurakucho Denki Build- Seidensticker introduced filmmaking and lit- and their reporters. Illustrious names such ing, home to the FCCJ since February 1976. erary giants like Akira Kurosawa and Yasunori as Time, Newsweek, US News and World On Oct. 26, we begin the move into our Kawabata, respectively. Report, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago new home on the 5th and 6th floors of the Many members, I’m sure, remember the Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and the big Marunouchi Nijubashi Building. Although we huge photograph of Marilyn Monroe in her TV networks: CBS, ABC and NBC downsized will lose our bird’s-eye view of the Yurakucho birthday suit that occupied a wall in the old or closed their doors entirely, as a global cityscape and the Imperial Palace grounds, we Stag Bar. There were villains, too: The Aum readjustment in the news gathering industry trust the ambience of the famed Nakadori, as cult made several appearances at press con- transpired. well as all the benefits of a spanking new facil- ferences at the Club, pleading their innocence As the Yurakucho era comes to a close, ity, will more than compensate. in the sarin attack of March 20, 1995, and we look forward to adding new and glorious Press Freedom News: Myanmar’s Government Takes a Big Step Backward “We take this as a crackdown on the rights arrested for the data and phone numbers they by KIMBERLEY PHILLIPS of access to information and media freedom, collected . arrest me too.” and an oppressive gesture towards all con- Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo’s detainment he conviction of two local Reuters cerned people of Myanmar who aspire to and subsequent trial had become a land- reporters in Yangon, Myanmar, last build a society characterized by the rule of mark press freedom case under the National T month ignited protests in major cities law, accountability, freedom and justice,” the League for Democracy government. Observ- and attracted scorching condemnation from statement read. ers expected the NLD government would pri- foreign embassies and NGO’s.