ABSTRACT
The media industry in Japan is one of the most powerful worldwide, yet media accountability remains restricted. As the profession is not institutionalized as such, most media accountability instruments originate from media organizations rather than journalists themselves. In fear of increasing state regulation during the 1990s, major news organizations developed internal self-regulatory mechanisms. The country report demonstrates that self-regulation leads to a mainstreaming of committees tasked with reflecting upon the accountability issues in print media and to the setting up of an independent regulatory body for broadcasters. However, much of the practices under fire in the 1990s remain fundamentally unchanged, and the criticism of the media persists.
