LONDON -- "In a democracy as stagnant as Japan's, you might expect the national newspapers to stir things up. But much of the Japanese press is adverse to change with reporters from some of the top newspapers sharing the clubby life of politicians and bureaucrats."

This accusation was made in the Jan. 18 edition of the London Economist. This influential magazine, which is widely read in the United States, added that the European Union has included Japanese media arrangements to its annual list of economic complaints, declaring that they are a "restraint on the free trade in information."

Are the Economist's criticism and the European Union's complaint justified? As someone who has observed the Japanese scene for over half a century, my response has to be that they are well grounded. Foreign journalists in Japan still find it difficult, even when they have a good knowledge of Japanese, to gain admission to press briefings because the "kisha" press clubs that hold such events take steps to deter or prevent them from attending.