Japan’s media mogul Tsuneo Watanabe died on Thursday at the age of 98. He was known, among other things, for significantly influencing Japanese politics through his work at the influential daily newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun.
The deputy director and editor-in-chief of the daily’s holding company maintained close relationships with influential politicians such as Yasuhiro Nakasone, prime minister in the 1980s, who in turn had close ties to then US President Ronald Reagan. Watanabe was also president of the Yomiuri Giants, one of the most famous professional baseball clubs in Japan.
With Japan’s most influential daily newspaper since 1950
Tsuneo Watanabe began his career at The Yomiuri Shimbun in 1950. He headed the newspaper’s Washington bureau and political news department before becoming the newspaper’s president and editor-in-chief in 1991. In 2002, he assumed the position of President and Editor-in-Chief of Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings and in 2004 as Chairman and Editor-in-Chief.
Under his leadership, the daily newspaper’s circulation exceeded 10 million copies. In 2010, Guinness World Records recognized The Yomiuri Shimbun as the daily newspaper with the highest circulation in the world and the only newspaper with a morning circulation of more than 10 million copies.
Commitment to changing the Japanese constitution
Watanabe initiated the first draft of changes to the Japanese constitution and worked closely with Nakasone to advance these changes. After World War II, in which he fought as a soldier, he joined the Japanese Communist Party and rejected the country’s imperialist system and military.
Although Watanabe promoted a more conservative stance for the newspaper after his appointment as editor-in-chief in 1979, he consistently opposed visits by Japanese prime ministers to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine. He called military chiefs “criminals” for escalating the war and claiming lives with reckless operations, including kamikaze suicide bombings.
He also criticized the increasing tendency to glorify or justify war and feared how the declining number of war survivors would affect society.
Many contacts in Japanese politics
Watanabe also maintained a close relationship with former Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, a conservative politician who also sought to change the constitution drafted during the U.S. occupation after World War II.
The Japanese government expressed regret over Watanabe’s death. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba called him a “great journalist” and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi called him “a witness to postwar politics who knew many politicians.”
Watanabe appeared in the office regularly until the end of November. He became ill earlier this month and began receiving medical treatment in the hospital, according to the company.
2024-12-20 06:05:00