Walls in Front of Freelance Journalists | By Tony McNicol, September 29, 2006 • Freelance journalists in Japan all face considerable obstacles, but none more than a small number of dogged investigative reporters.

TV Program Full of Patches | By Takehiko Kambayashi, September 16, 2006 • Media failed to raise the issue of censorship in an NHK documentary prescreened by top officials.

Filling Gaps Between Newspapers and TV | By Tony McNicol, August 23, 2006 • Journalist Yuji Yoshitomi talks to Japan Media Review about the Osaka media, writing for Japan's weekly magazines and threats to press freedom in Japan.

Keitai in Public Transportation: Part Two | By Daisuke Okabe and Mizuko Ito, August 9, 2006 • In an excerpt from their book "Personal, Portable, Pedestrian" by MIT Press, two professors analyze 10-year history of public regulation of keitai usage.

Keitai in Public Transportation | By Daisuke Okabe and Mizuko Ito, July 26, 2006 • In an excerpt from their book “Personal, Portable, Pedestrian” by MIT Press, two professors examine the emerging do's and don'ts of public mobile phone use. First of two parts.

Journalists Protest Conspiracy Law | By Tony McNicol, July 12, 2006 • Freelance journalists in Japan fear that a new law might be used to obstruct their investigations of the powerful.
1 comment.

Making Nice Instead of Making News | By Takehiko Kambayashi, June 28, 2006 • Japanese media too often value smooth relations with sources over critical reporting on behalf of viewers.

Silver Surfers: Japan’s Senior Citizens Go Online | By Tony Mcnicol, May 31, 2006 • As Japanese baby boomers reach retirement age, computer schools and websites race to offer services tailored to older Internet users.
1 comment.

Mobile Retailers Hit Jackpot | By Miki Tanikawa, May 16, 2006 • Marketers discover unique advantages to selling goods via cell phone to the keitai-toting crowd.

Japan Lays Groundwork for National Earthquake Warning System | By Tony McNicol, April 13, 2006 • Public and private organizations in Japan are examining how media, Internet and mobile technology can be used to transmit warnings of imminent earthquakes.

OhmyNews to Put Down Roots in Japan | By Takehiko Kambayashi , March 30, 2006 • The South Korean juggernaut advances into Japan with corporate backing on a mission to spread its brand of grassroots journalism worldwide.
2 comments.

Gender Issues Spark Censorship Debate | By Tony McNicol, March 16, 2006 • The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is accused of censorship after the forced cancellation of a lecture by a gender-rights advocate.
1 comment.

More Talking, Less Typing | By Takehiko Kambayashi, March 2, 2006 • Early childhood experts, physicians and the United Nations seek to educate the Japanese public about when it's time for children to put down the cell phone, video game controller and remote and step away from the keyboard.
2 comments.

Looking for the Law in Online Japan’s Wild West | By Tim Hornyak, February 16, 2006 • Debito Arudou, an American-born naturalized Japanese known as a foreigner rights activist, chats with JMR about his recent legal wrangle with 2-Channel, an online bulletin board with a history of courting controversy.

Media Darling Becomes Media Victim | By Tony McNicol, February 6, 2006 • Japan’s best known Internet mogul Takafumi Horie is in police custody on suspicion of false accounting and market manipulation. Tony Mcnicol speaks to Tokyo-based publisher and Internet entrepreneur Terrie Lloyd about the implications of Horie’s arrest.

The State of Grassroots Journalism | By Tony McNicol, January 16, 2006 • Tony McNicol speaks to Dan Gillmor, business and technology columnist and proponent of citizen journalism, about the future of news media.
1 comment.

Police, Internet Providers Try to Deter Online Suicide Pacts | By Tony McNicol, December 15, 2005 • Japanese Internet providers seek a balance between preventing Internet-arranged suicides and safeguarding freedom of expression.
1 comment.

Human Rights NGOs and the Media: Allies or Adversaries? | By Tony McNicol, December 2, 2005 • A panel of activists and journalists met recently in Kyoto to discuss Japan’s rapidly growing NGO sector, and its sometimes difficult relationship with the media.

Pull Up a Chair with Cafeglobe.com | By Keiko Mori, November 4, 2005 • Yoko Aoki, founder and CEO of popular online women's magazine Cafeglobe.com, talks with JMR about the site's common sense approach to delivering news and lifestyle tips to Japanese women in an effective, relevant way.

Questioning the Questioners | By Yuichi Yamamoto, October 20, 2005 • Commentary: Calling for reform, Yuichi Yamamoto, founder of Tokyo Free Press, skewers the kisha club system and the "shackled" Japanese media.

Master of the Message | By Tony McNicol, October 10, 2005 • Tony McNicol talks to Ofer Feldman about the recent Japanese general election, Prime Minister Koizumi’s mastery of the political theater and new, Western-style Japanese politics.
2 comments.

TV Coverage Sweeps LDP Back into Power | By Takehiko Kambayashi, September 22, 2005 • Media analysts point to shallow political coverage to explain the Liberal Democratic Party's overwhelming victory in Japan's recent election.

Publisher’s Imprisonment Has Non-Establishment Media Fearing Crackdown | By Tony McNicol, September 12, 2005 • The imprisonment of Toshiyasu Matsuoka, publisher of “Kami no Bakudan" magazine, on charges of defamation, has left some media outlets wondering who might be next.

NHK: Can It Be Fixed? | By Takehiko Kambayashi, August 25, 2005 • A former top reporter for the public broadcaster speaks about the network's recent string of scandals and the problems with the news media today.