[KineJapan] NHK doc about Kawase Naomi’s Olympic doc

[John Junkerman]

This controversy continues to fester. NHK held a couple of press
conferences in the days after these posts, one to address whether the
telops (which claimed the interviewee had participated in an anti-Olympic
protest, and that he revealed he had been paid to protest) had been
confirmed with the interviewee (they had not), and another to clarify that
responsibility for the telops lay with NHK and not with Kawase or her
second-unit director, Shimada Kakuei. It was also announced that a special
committee had been set up to examine the incident.

In addition to the telops, a number of free-speech citizens' groups have
pointed to two other moments in the program. In one, after the scene with
the telops, Shimada tells the NHK director, "There are professional
protestors, and protestors who are seriously concerned, so it's hard to
generalize about the opposition." Shimada denies telling NHK that the
interviewee was paid, but he certainly implies as much, and it appears he
went out of his way to set up the interview with the man (was he looking
for a "Gotcha!" scene?).

The other moment involves Kawase, who was filming a protest outside the JOC
offices by Tokyo school teachers, objecting to plans to mobilize students
to attend the Games during the pandemic. Kawase commented to the NHK
camera, "The people involved with the Olympics are working so hard here,
it's only natural, as a human being, to sympathize with them
(その人に寄り添う、人間として当たり前)." The teachers' group protested to NHK, pointing out
that this "gave the impression that our 'opposition to the Olympics' was
not something a human being would do."

The program is not available to be seen, so we can't confirm these reports
or see them in context, but they do call into question Kawase's professed
commitment to impartiality. I imagine (and hope) she will be more careful
in her presentation.

John Junkerman
jtj53213 at gmail.com
2-18-6 Ehara-cho, Nakano
Tokyo 165-0023
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