ABSTRACT
On 25 January 2014, incoming NHK President Momii Katsuto caused controversy at his inaugural press conference. In addition to comments that an institution equivalent to Japan’s notorious ‘comfort station’ (military brothel) system existed in ‘every country’ during the Second World War, he stated that NHK’s stance should not differ too much from the government on issues such as territorial claims. By saying ‘When the government is saying, “Right,” we can’t say, “Left,” ’ he seemed to indicate that NHK would abandon its obligation as Japan’s public broadcaster to ensure ‘political fairness’ and would align more closely with the right-wing stance of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s government (Yoshida, Mie and Johnston 2014).
