The Character of the Mediopolitical Complex in Japan and Political Journalism of the Reporter’s Club

The general aim of this paper is to contribute to a deeper understanding of Japanese media and communication in contemporary society. It also hopes to widen the integrated and internationalized (de-westernized) framework for understanding the dynamism and complexity of media and politics in the context of a non-western society. The starting point of this paper is a summary of the theoretical knowledge about political communication and the social role of media institutions in a society. The main part of this paper is focused on the phenomenon of Japanese mass-media journalism: I try to illuminate the specific role of Japanese media when dealing with political/power circles. While touching on state-press relations I offer an organizational analysis of the reporter’s club system (kisha kurabu) in contemporary Japan.