Japanese gov't takes issue with NHK radio's unscripted Senkaku remarks

NHK said his contract was terminated, and it plans to seek damages from him.

Anyone considering future employment at NHK might want to keep this in mind.

Additionally, who is listening to NHK news in Chinese on the radio? Sounds like a complete waste of money.

Blimey.

Something interesting on NHK radio?

I must tune in.

Anyone considering future employment at NHK might want to keep this in mind.

I don't know why you seem to be seeing this as a problem. There's nothing but to believe that this man's actions was intentional sabotage. Termination of contract and damages are the least. He should feel lucky he wasn't arrested and brought up on criminal charges.

The Chinese staffer also said in English during the radio program that people should not forget wartime comfort women or the Nanjing Massacre,

The massacre was carried out in 1937 by Japanese troops, while the term comfort women refers to those who were procured for wartime Japanese military brothels.

What's the problem, he spoke the truth right? He knew that he can follow his conscience.

There's nothing but to believe that this man's actions was intentional sabotage.

“Sabotage” might be too strong a claim.

I guess it depends on his job duties and whether NHK news program reporters ever go off-script.

If they don’t, I would imagine that it’s a mighty dull place to work.

"NHK President Nobuo Inaba attended a meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday to offer an apology."

LOL!

He didn't apologize to the people who pay his salary. He apologized to the people who control the editorial policy of NHK.

We are forced to pay NHK to spread the dishonest, chauvinist, militarist, anti-China propaganda of the LDP.

“who is listening to NHK news in Chinese on the radio? “

Maybe Xi Jinping was tuning in to see if the agent he’d sent to Japan was doing his job.

The Diaoyu islands are indeed Chinese territory.

The Chinese contract worker told the truth.

Japan stole them from China in 1895 and renamed them as the "Senkaku islands" in 1900. 

It was war booty from the Sino-Japanese War.

Why did NHK's controllers in the LDP react so hysterically to one statement by a contract worker on a minor media source? This is how it works with big lies. Even a little bit of truth is very dangerous to a big lie.

The militarists of the LDP are trying with all their might to turn Japan into a war state again despite the pacifist feelings of the big majority of people. These pacifist feelings are the direct result of the last disaster that the militarists brought to Japan when they invaded China and launched what would become the Pacific war with America.

He should feel lucky he wasn't arrested and brought up on criminal charges.

Well argued. Yes, he should be imprisoned for spreading anti-Japan propaganda. I imagine he is a CCP agent.

At the very least, he needs to be sued for ¥ Millions, deported back home and barred from entering Japan for 10 years.

Dang. Are we still talking (and sore) about what happened almost a hundred years ago?

"he should be imprisoned for spreading anti-Japan propaganda. I imagine he is a CCP agent"

The above sounds a lot like the kind of thing you could hear in 1920's, 1930's Japan. That is how the militarists talked. They imprisoned anyone who opposed their war drive.

And how did it turn out? Those militarists brought utter disaster to Japan. And then they sold out Japan. Instead of taking responsibility for their incompetence and foolishness, they cut a deal with the Americans to save themselves and rebranded themselves as the LDP.

Go saying crazy stuff on air, then scream Government, censorship! . Yes there is freedom of expression, and a fine line between the freedom and provocation.

USA PBS TV is FREE, and fully supported by subscribers, DONATIONS, advertisers, sales of educational materials, Special music CD, and DVD, art and so on. Frontline is my favorite program.

NHK is FORCING the General Public to pay a monthly fees by bank transfer or credit card regardless if you watch it or NOT

This is the biggest rip off I have ever seen in my entire life.

Very few watch NHK these days except for the elderly and yet they continue on charging everyone. ¥2,170 for a satellite contract and ¥1,225 for a terrestrial-only contract

save that 2,170 or 1,225JPY and Take down that damn antenna and junk your TV.

who needs it when you got the entire world on your NET TV, YouTube, Netflex, and many more.

…who is listening to NHK news in Chinese on the radio?

Perhaps he was speaking in code - doing a “Les Français parlent aux Français”?

Ah, the NHK Mafia, who is forcing us to pay monthly fees even if we are not watching their propaganda and LDP sponsored news and TV shows.

That's right, I forgot where the "correctitude" is coming from.

sakurasukiToday 05:08 pm JST

What's the problem, he spoke the truth right?

Wrong.

BellflowerToday 05:54 pm JST

The Diaoyu islands are indeed Chinese territory.

Wrong again.

If China disputes that the Senkakus are Japanese it should address this through the proper legal channels. But it won't, as it has no case, and does not respect international law anyway.

Instead, it just wants to bully others and steal things, like all totalitarian monsters do.

NHK is FORCING the General Public to pay a monthly fees by bank transfer or credit card regardless if you watch it or NOT

This is the biggest rip off I have ever seen in my entire life.

bbc is £169.50 or ¥2,575 per month.

We are forced to pay NHK to spread the dishonest, chauvinist, militarist, anti-China propaganda of the LDP.

Can't Pay! Won't Pay!

BellflowerToday  05:54 pm JST

The Diaoyu islands are indeed Chinese territory.

The Chinese contract worker told the truth.

Japan stole them from China in 1895 and renamed them as the "Senkaku islands" in 1900. 

It was war booty from the Sino-Japanese War.

All false information. The Senkakus were uninhabited and incoporated as terra nulleas in accordance with international protocol. No nation objected, including the Qing Dynasty. The Sino-Japanese War was terminated with the Treaty of Shimonoseki, in which Taiwan and the Pescadores were ceeded to Japan.. The Senkakus were not included because the Qing Dyansty did not consider them their territory. They had nothing to do with that war,

Chinese (PRC) maps through the 1960 showed the Senkakus to be Japanese territory, part of Okinawa Prefecture. China usurped Taiwans claim over them in the early 1970s. Taiwan's claim was for fishing rights. The PRC's claim is for the strategic purpose of breaking the First Island Chain,

China is theiving dictatorship nation bent on taking territory from all of it;s neighbors for the purpose of establishing military dominance in the region. China refuses to bring a claim at the ICJ over the Senkakus because it itself does not recognize or abide by International Court rulings.

The Senkakus are covered under Article 5 of the US-Japan mutual defense treaty. Taking them militarily will bring a U.S. military response.

JJEToday  09:12 pm JST

During the Nanjing Massacre,

Your country, under the leadership of Mao Tse Tung and Chou En Lai signed the Treatty of Friendship with Japan in 1972. puttting all WWII matters to rest. They then reaffirmed it in 1978. The CCP is obviously a government that does not stand by it's own word.

who needs it when you got the entire world on your NET TV, YouTube, Netflex, and many more.

Look up Tik Tok or the YouTube shorts on the NHK bill collector. The Japanese treat them like garbage too. Hate to have that job.

china colonized taiwan in the 17th century, so it has no claim to taiwan, right? gotta be careful about pointing fingers at who “owns” what.

There was no law requiring the return of the island like there was for Japan.

Japan returned Taiwan and so it should have returned the Diaoyutai Senkaku’s as well.

Reading the wiki, it seems historically these islands were not Japanese until forceful takeover at the end of 19th century. If this is legit, then China forcefully getting them back has at least the same legitimacy.

I feel like, Japan and Taiwan being prepared to fight a war that will serve only to the west. Like they did in Ukraine and other places, West will pour in money and weapons and East Asians will pay the high price with their lives in millions while fighting other east Asians.

Result: The rest thinking they are fighting for their freedom while they are effectively serving only to the west.

Let's get real folks, the only reason Japan retained all of the Ryukyu Island Chain and Diaoyu/Senkaku is because of USA military occupation and administration, 25 years of it including the bulk of the Vietnam War.

I would be curious to see the NHK claptrap he was asked to read that finally blew a gasket and he busted into a "I'm mad as hell and I am not not going to take this any more" mode (old movie reference).

deanzaZZRToday 12:43 am JST

Let's get real folks, the only reason Japan retained all of the Ryukyu Island Chain and Diaoyu/Senkaku is because of USA military occupation and administration, 25 years of it including the bulk of the Vietnam War.

I would be curious to see the NHK claptrap he was asked to read that finally blew a gasket and he busted into a "I'm mad as hell and I am not not going to take this any more" mode (old movie reference).

So those things are at risk from someone taking them, huh? Doesn't sound like that potential thief is very peaceful.

callbsoutAug. 26 11:17 pm JST

Reading the wiki, it seems historically these islands were not Japanese until forceful takeover at the end of 19th century. If this is legit, then China forcefully getting them back has at least the same legitimacy.

Forceful takeover of uninhabited rocks, yeah. Japan was the first to at least put something on them.

Lol. There should be a disclaimer that’s his opinion. Too bad, Japanese media is all about script.

I remember a live interview with a Japanese athlete where he answered a question with a question to the interviewer - something like “right now it’s valentines day in Japan right?”. But because that was not in the interviewer’s script, he didn’t answer and met the ahtlete with a blank stare.

Didn't know NHK was so lax in their hiring process and why even bother airing prerecorded news in Chinese? That's like having a radio station airing news in Russian. How would anyone know what is being broadcasted unless you understood the Russian language. Really dumb move.

NHK should be OUTLAWED for ripping of the general public, they day will come when NHK will either be FREE or Privatized, it's only a matter of time

@CoconutE3

The BBC has services in Chinese and Russian so that speakers of those languages can get propaganda-free news. But then again, the BBC actually has credibility and doesn’t employ gangster like tactics to coerce people to pay.

"Propaganda free", you are a funny man, indeed.

May Heavens bless China and Japan with good hearted leaders who lead this into a cooperation opportunity to share the natural resources around these islands. China has a huge population to feed, so Japan, then, both countries have the capability of negotiating a win-win deal. No reason to fight or to spend huge amounts of money in weapons. Cooperation is the keyword, as peace, as diplomacy.

How long until people begin to use this to refuse paying the NHK fees?

Apparently, the guy was misunderstanding the whole matter, taking Beijing's official line to be true. That's why I've been saying that there should be a civilian-level symposium to discuss the matter. Make this thread a venue for it.

"MeiyouwentiAug. 26  05:43 pm JST

“who is listening to NHK news in Chinese on the radio? “

Maybe Xi Jinping was tuning in to see if the agent he’d sent to Japan was doing his job."

The content is also targeted for African countries, where China is spending huge investment on. I heard Chinese international station is jamming NHK Chinese broadcast for overseas audience.

"CoconutE3Today  06:08 am JST

Didn't know NHK was so lax in their hiring process and why even bother airing prerecorded news in Chinese? That's like having a radio station airing news in Russian. How would anyone know what is being broadcasted unless you understood the Russian language. Really dumb move."

NHK actually broadcasts news and programmes in Russian too. Obviously it's meant for Russian speaking audience.

The Japanese army was cruel!! The campaign has died down recently.

The lies about the military prostitutes have become widely known in Korea, and they have been unable to refute the thesis of Oxford University professor Ramseyer.

The Nanjing Massacre was fabricated without even a witness to begin with.

Even though the entire population of a city was killed, there are no bodies.

Chiang Kai-shek, who ruled Nanjing at the time, has never spoken out about this fabricated massacre.

In fact, even the Chinese Communist government has never held a memorial service or anything like that.

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the Xi'an incident, in which Japanese residents were massacred, and the Yellow River flooding incident, in which even Chinese people were sacrificed.

Well it’s getting pretty clear, The CCP has its eye on all of East Asia now. I’m in favour of Japan spending more of my taxes on defensive infrastructure.

I thought NHK was by law supposed to be independent of government influence. Of course, I never thought it was.

I came across an interesting article on the NHK's banning of certain opinions that disagreed with government opinion.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/japans-bbc-bans-any-reference-to-wartime-sex-slaves-s7qtbxr0kc0

Note: The Times refers to the UK newspaper.