Here is a book that provides the reader with both a detailed view of Japan's 20th century history as well as a critique of how a major newspaper covered that history ... [A] detailed and critical examination.

Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies

The book reveals fascinating background to stories and also the difficulties in maintaining timely reporting while having to conform to company and, often, government directives ... [It] is a valuable text.

Journal of Japanese Studies

Lively, engaging, and frank, Media, Propaganda and Politics in 20th Century Japan is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the complex forces that produced Japan's tumultuous 20th century. Focusing on the key events and developments of the Showa years (1926-89)-the rise of militarism, World War II, the emperor's role in the Occupation, postwar economic prosperity and pollution, relations with the Soviets, the Americans, and China-the paper's former editor-in-chief sheds new light on the way the press and the public influenced each other, often positively and often disastrously. Funabashi is particularly strong in analyzing the pre-World War II years and the paper's erratic role in sometimes fighting, sometimes defending nationalism and militarization. Rich in little-known human stories and in quotations from company and state documents, the work also has much to tell us about nationalism, censorship, and the media today.

James L. Huffman, H. Orth Hirt Professor of History Emeritus, Wittenberg University, USA