Kisha Club - History

History

1890

In response to the ban imposed by the first Imperial Diet on reporting by newspaper reporters, a reporter from the Jiji Shinpō (時事新報?) newspaper called together the Diet correspondents from the Tokyo newspapers to form a "Group of journalists visiting the Diet" (議会出入記者団, Gikai deiri kishadan?), which in October merged with newspaper companies across Japan, changing its name to the Associated Newspaper Journalists' Club (共同新聞記者倶楽部, Kyōdō Shinbun Kisha Kurabu?), to become the first kisha club.

March 1941

With the formation of the "Japan Newspaper Union" (日本新聞連盟, Nihon Shinbun Renmei?), a newspaper control organization, the number of kisha clubs was reduced to one third, and kisha clubs were forbidden from governing themselves.

October 26, 1949

The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association created a "Policy on Kisha Clubs", stating that they were "an organization for the purpose of socialization, and are not to intervene in matters related to reporting".

December 1997

The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association changed this policy, stating that kisha clubs were "bases for reporting" which allowed easy access to information held by public bodies.

March 24, 2005

Livedoor became the first Internet media company to apply for membership of the Japan Meteorological Agency kisha club.

However, on March 15, 2006, the former president of Livedoor, Takafumi Horie, was charged with a breach of the Securities Trading Law (証券取引法, Shōken Torihiki Hō?), and for this reason the application was rejected unanimously by the companies present.

July 9, 2005

The freelance journalist Yū Terasawa (寺澤有?) and the deputy editor of the Shūkan Gendai (週刊現代?) weekly magazine submitted an application for a provisional ruling against the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and the 15 companies in the related kisha club to the Tokyo District Court and Tokyo High Court, stating that groups such as kisha clubs must not be allowed to obstruct journalists wishing to attend at the offices of the Metropolitan Police and give questions, but the application was refused. A special appeal is being made to the Tokyo High Court.

November 8, 2005

When a journalist from NHK Ōtsu Office was arrested in relation to an arson incident, the offices of the Shiga Prefecture Police kisha club to which he belonged were searched by the Shiga Prefecture Police.