Paper short abstract:

This talk focuses on the way scandals are produced in contemporary Japan. I approach Japanese scandal as a media product and focus on the role of Japanese journalists in a symbolic process of transforming leaked gossip into a proper scandal. I offer a map of scandal production in Japanese mediascape

Paper long abstract:

This talk conflates media theory, Japanese studies and cultural sociology in order to better understand the way media scandals are produced in contemporary Japan. It offers an opportunity to see how scandals play out in a liberal democratic system that differs in many respects from the United States and Europe.

In cultural sociology, scandal is understood as a social performance between "ritual" and "strategy". In my previous research I focused on the "ritual" aspect, analyzing Japanese scandals as dramatic public performances of confession, exclusion and reintegration. In this talk, I focus on the "strategy" aspect, approaching scandals as symbolic products of media routines and journalistic practices.

In Japan and elsewhere, scandal coverage concerns specific rules of media organization and production. In this context, I aim to illuminate the role of Japanese journalists in the process of transforming leaked gossip into a proper scandal. In my framework, the mainstream media are represented by the "inside-media" (big dailies, TV broadcast, news agencies), while the "outside-media" (weeklies, local papers, foreign press) are located on the periphery of Japanese mediascape. The main finding is that scandals in Japan are primarily kept private by the inside-media. Big Japanese dailies rarely confront political controversies, while the initial impulse for triggering scandals usually comes from the outside-media. The journalists are, however, not the only influential actors in scandal development. I simultaneously focus on the non-media actors: the power triangle of elite politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen, the prosecutors, advertising companies, talent agencies, and the yakuza.

This talk offers a new perspective on the way how elite transgressions are promoted and processed by the media. I highlight the production logic of Japanese scandals by following a three-act structure, consisting of "leak processing", "scandal proper", and "climax & fadeout". In this structure, whistleblowers forward compromising leak to the police, prosecutors, or the outside-media, whereas the involved power circles (sei-kan-zai) attempt to minimize negative media coverage. The inside-media usually ignore the tabloids' revelations while discouraging investigative journalism. Nonetheless, as the public indignation grows, the inside-media eventually start covering the case as well, giving shape to a full-blown scandal.

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