The PSU Center for Japanese Studies presents

The second installment in its fall lecture series Truth and Its Limits: Challenges Facing Japan’s Mass Media

Featuring Yu Miyaji, Staff Writer for Asahi Shimbun

A Zoom Presentation

Free Admission

Traditional media in Japan, such as newspapers, often have very different business models compared to the U.S., but are struggling to find ways to be profitable online. At the same time, Japan is facing many of the same issues surrounding misinformation in the media as the U.S. and other countries. Due to the language barrier, however, Japan has a unique and relatively isolated online environment, resulting in independent social media scenes. Schools currently do not provide sufficient training on media literacy, leading even some high school students to be unaware of what is fake news. Furthermore, although Twitter is widely used in Japan, unlike the U.S., its users are mostly anonymous, which can make it difficult to identify who is spreading misinformation. In this talk we will explore the media environment and misinformation in Japan, and discuss new developments in Japan and what the traditional media is doing in the age of misinformation.

Yu Miyaji is a Staff Writer for Asahi Shimbun, one of the largest nationwide newspapers in Japan. She was the first San Francisco Bureau Chief of Asahi Shimbun from 2014 to 2018, covering the tech industry, privacy and security issues, and also politics. Prior to San Francisco, she wrote for the GLOBE, a weekly pull out section, and also for the City News section of the Asahi Shimbun for eight years, covering diverse topics such as the terrorist attacks in Bali, Indonesia, the Winter Olympic Games in 2006 in Torino, Italy, labor issues in Japan, politics, economics, and a series of articles on family histories. She has written several books, including What’s Really Happening in Silicon Valley. She also occasionally appeared on TV news, taught at several universities in Japan as guest lecturer, and served as a panelist and a moderator at international conferences and events. She received a Master’s degree in International Relations from Keio University, and, supported through a Fulbright scholarship, a Master of Political Science degree from Columbia University in New York.

Contact cjs@pdx.edu for more information.