A Man for All Media
Political analyst Minoru Morita was a fixture on a Fuji TV morning news program until several years ago. He would appear clad in kimono and deliver his erudite political commentary, which was typically laced with ancient proverbs and historical observations. But Morita, now 75, was also a harsh critic of the once wildly popular Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. While the rest of the media fawned over the “lion-maned” prime minister, Morita had a different interpretation:
“In my view, Koizumi was the most irresponsible and frivolous prime minister in Japan’s postwar history.”
Not one to mince words, Morita went on TV in the late summer of 2005 and called the dissolution of the Diet by Koizumi “unconstitutional.” Here’s how Morita describes what happened next in his upcoming book, Curing Japan’s America Addiction:
“Back on August, 8, 2005, then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the lower house after lawmakers in the upper house refused to pass bills supporting postal privatization. At the time, I viewed this dissolution as unconstitutional.
“The day after the lower-house dissolution, I appeared on TV and made the following statement: ‘Prime Minister Koizumi’s decision to dissolve the lower house is a misuse of the prime minister’s authority and thus is unconstitutional.’ I heard much later that the TV network was sharply reprimanded by government authorities and members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. After my comment, the TV network severed its ties with me.”
But Morita was undaunted. He’s the sort of guy who doesn’t buckle under this kind of pressure. In fact, in some ways, the TV station’s short-sighted decision propelled Morita onto the international stage as he decided one way to counter the lack of TV time would be to translate more of his writing into English and distribute it to foreign journalists.
Morita runs a website and a think tank and has recently opened a prep school. He has published about 40 books in Japanese and is about to publish his first book in English with my company. When the Japanese TV station sought to silence him, they had no idea that this man of all media didn’t need the small screen. He was bigger than that.
Morita’s website gets 5,000 or so unique visitors a day. His weekly column in English, which my company translates, is circulated among journalists across the globe. Recently, he tells us, journalists from Slovenia, Spain and the Ukraine interviewed him after reading his columns. Morita knows that there are many ways to get your message out. Along with the English translations and the constant updates of his website, he also gives about 300 lectures a year all over Japan, often to standing-room-only crowds.
TV only dominates if we let it. A more vigorous populace need not waste time debating the sermons of Jeremiah Wright or the croonings of Koizumi at Graceland. There are important things being said, and people like Morita willing to say them. You’re just not likely to find those people or their ideas in the increasingly out of touch TV and newspaper worlds — and that’s something that is true on both sides of the Pacific.
