Planned Massive Protests in Japan Against Fuji Television and Kao (Sept. 16-17)

Dear reporters of the international news media,

This is a kind reminder for you about massive protests in Japan that is planned to be held in September so that you may be able to cover those critical events. These protests in September will be truly unusual and landmark events in Japanese modern history.

It is stated that the goal of the protest is to condemn Fuji Television, one of the largest Japanese TV networks, for its biased TV broadcasting. Fuji has been criticized that it has excessively broadcasted Korean TV series and other Korean entertainment contents while receiving funds from the Korean government and purchasing many broadcasting rights from Korea. The excessive pushy marketing and the heavy use of subliminal stealth marketing by Fuji have also been criticized. On a more sensitive note, it is alledged that Fuji has broadcasted many sports games in a way that damages Japanese sentiment, by demeaning Japanese athletes and omitting images of moments that strengthens national unity in times of national disaster.

A similar protest against Fuji that had participants of 6,000 to 10,000 people was held in August 21, 2011. One very important thing to note is that those participants were truly ordinary people without any association to ideological/religious/political organizations. These people gathered through communications using internet. In other words, the so-called shy silent majority of Japan is finally raising their voice, and that is truly a phenomenal move.

The other key issue to note is that none of the major news media reported the protest in August. The traditional media (TV and newspapers) tried to cover up and play down the confrontation between the traditional media (that are grid locked with special interests) versus truly democratic public opinion.  The protests are the beginning of the shift of power structure of media and the opening of the new era of media.

Although Fuji and other news media ignored the massive protest in August (while always reporting anti-Japan protest by some 30 radical leftist groups), Fuji's hidden internal fear can be observed on its Japanese web page. On its top page, it presents lengthy letter that tries to respond to the concerns raised by the protestors. http://www.fujitv.co.jp/index.html

Protests in September will be incidents worth reporting for the international news media, as it is a turning point of how Japanese forms and expresses public opinion. Protest against Kao , which is a major financial sponsor of Fuji, is planned on September 16 from 11:30 starting from Sakamotocho Park close to Kayabacho station in Tokyo. Protest against Fuji itself is planned on September 17 from 13:00 starting from Promenade Park close to Odaiba station in Tokyo.

Please find the following link for the details of the similar protest that was held against Fuji on August 21, 2011. http://jonny-skywalker.blogspot.com/2011/08/demonstration-against-fuji-television.html

Sincerely yours,

One voice of the Japanese public