From the Editor
Justin McCurry
With just a year to go before the World Expo opens in Osaka, the event has been blighted by delays, soaring costs and, perhaps most worrying of all, a distinct lack of enthusiasm among foreign participants and the Japanese public. Will it be alright on the night? Eric Johnston investigates in this month’s cover story. Elsewhere, David McNeill looks at the six-year campaign by the family of former FCCJ stalwart Bernie Krisher to correct an error-strewn article in the Atlantic magazine and, in his second piece, reminds us that good sense prevailed in the controversy over a war-related exhibition at the Aichi Triennale in Nagoya. Karyn Nishimura wonders if the domestic media have lost interest in the LDP funding scandal, and Eiichiro Tokumoto explains the behind-the-scenes negotiations that preceded Emperor Akihito’s historic state visit to China in 1992. Dylan O’Brien explains how Japanese media coverage of the war in Gaza has shifted since October 7, and John Potter previews NHK’s rerun of the Okinawa-based daytime TV drama Churasan. Last month we heard the sad news that our colleague and FCCJ member Shiro Yoneyama had died after a brief illness. His friends and colleagues pay tribute. And we celebrate arguably the club’s most familiar face – the irreplaceable Hanif - who has worked for the FCCJ for 45 years. In their regular columns, Philip Brasor explains how Japan’s married surname system affects children, and Eric Johnston speculates on the future of the Tour de Hokkaido bicycle race after the tragic, and entirely avoidable, death of a rider in last year’s event.
Photo: Justin McCurry - Artwork by Julio Shiiki