The Abe administration has prepared a list of five people to fill vacancies on the Board of Governors of NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.). The list was submitted in late October to the rules and management committees of the Lower and Upper houses, as the Diet is empowered to approve or turn down the appointment of NHK governors.
At least three of the five people picked by the Abe administration are close to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. There is concern that the neutrality of NHK as a public broadcast organization could be violated. One wonders whether Mr. Abe understands the importance of ensuring NHK's neutrality and independence.
The five people picked by the Abe administration include Mr. Naoki Hyakuta, a novelist who supported Mr. Abe in the election for Liberal Democratic Party president in September 2012; Mr. Katsuhiko Honda, formerly president and currently adviser of Japan Tobacco Inc., who tutored Mr. Abe when he was in elementary school; and Ms. Michiko Hasegawa, a conservative philosopher and a professor emeritus at Saitama University, who also supported Mr. Abe in the LDP presidential election.
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