The Japanese mainstream media do not have a well-developed 'watchman' ethic, because it colludes closely with those whom it should be watching and holding accountable. As a result, it is in no hurry t

Why would they need a watchdog media when they only really watch the news to view the cherry blossoms as they travel north? The level of apathy in this country is appalling, to the point of being infantile. So few get angry about the way things are done around Japan. I don't know whether I would say the media leads the way in this or is a direct product of it. Chicken, egg, egg, chicken.

Japan has more blogs than any other country. Unfortunately, most of them are cellphone blogs about pets.

An interesting viewpoint is at

http://ampontan.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/the-collapse-of-journalism-in-japan/

Note: The writer is generally dissatisfied with mass-media regardless of its nation of origin.

I would LOVE to see someone disagree with this.

Actually disagree, not just pull the typical "look! Over there! Other countries!" distraction stuff.

The Japanese mainstream media have almost no investigative instincts at all, very much a part of the "We Japanese" institutional establishment.