Broadcasting Law-Related Papers Confirmed to Be Official: Minister

Tokyo, March 7 (Jiji Press)--Japan’s Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said Tuesday the alleged internal documents related to the broadcasting law that has sparked controversy in the country were all confirmed to be administrative documents of the communications ministry.

The papers, made up of 80 or so pages, show how the administration of then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe allegedly applied pressure on the ministry over the interpretation of political impartiality under the law. They are believed to have been created around the time when the Abe administration effectively changed the government’s interpretation of the matter in 2016.

The documents were brought to light on Thursday by Hiroyuki Konishi of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, who said that he obtained the papers from a ministry employee.

The Japanese government had avoided confirming whether the documents were administrative papers, only saying that it will have to closely examine the papers. Current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had said that the accuracy and legitimacy of the papers were unclear.

At a press conference on Tuesday, however, Matsumoto said, “We’ve come to a conclusion that the documents were obtained or created by the communications ministry.”

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]