But he was a lone gunman.
And the crackdown is still continuing.
http://www.yosensha.co.jp/search.php?

BTW,did you watch this?
http://www.nhk.or.jp/special/onair/071111.html

category=79&tag=7

Also, Aceface, remember when you said that the murder in Nagasaki would lead to a huge crackdown on the Yamaguchi gumi? That didn’t happen. He was a “lone gunman.”

I’ve noticed that when I learned that the DEATH ROW RECORD is owned by Music Corporation of America…

”The other problem is the fundamental attitude of the Japanese media class that they have no obligation or duty to pass on the information they collect to the “masses.””。

Now,you’re Noam Chomskying here.
I know my place don’t do that very much and I’d always admit about that.
But there are other media class that publish Shukanshis.Publisher like Kodansha and Shueisha are keen on printing these mockraking reports.That somehow compensate the loss of Paper/TV comglomarete and fill the vacuum within J-media matrix.

“She probably stopped making people money and then they realized what they knew the whole time.”

Her books still sell well in the bookstores.
What I smell fishy about is the timing.Two programs from different stations being off the air at the same time? Never happened in my living memory….

Trying to bring back the subject on line,I remember the assault on Itami was not particulary met with sympathy among the film critics here.

There was this film critic “F” who is actually a lecturer of French in my university,really hated Itami’s works.
When the news hit the air,he made the joke next day,”Man,why didn’t those thugs stubbed the blade a bit deeper”.

Ofcourse it was pretty tasteless humour(and this dude was an avid fan of Kurosawas Kiyoshi,whom at the time was in a law suit with Itami),but we’ve seen Itami making films from the perspective of IRS investigators and now comes hunting Yakuza at the the time of Anti-Boryokudan law(there was a rally in Tokyo organized by then Issui-kai leader and media celebrity Suzuki Kunio,with families of Yakuzas marching along with far-left wing sects condemining authority can now tap telephone communications.Suzuki had called it as “Popular Front of Heisei”.)and naturally Itami was seen as somesort of liberal-turns-conservative who can’t adopt the tide of the age.That assessment was pretty much reflected upon his films too.(What kind of a guy would make a mainstream film with a title like”Ageman”,”lucky cunt” is what it means.Feminists weren’t very pleased and Itami was writing about those issues in the 70′s.)

I was actually shocked to find out that Itmi was seen as some sort of dissident figure by the some in the U.S,when I was reading that Japan hand turned Washington insider,Stephen Clemmons’blog”WASHINGTON NOTE”.
Clemmons is suspicious that Itami’s death was caused by the dark forces looming in Japanese society,aka The Yakuzas,not the conventional wisdom in Japan that his affair with college girl was revealed on Friday magazine and he commit suicide in protest.

This is the reason. When you are making money, morals and ethics and legalities are thrown out the window.

The other problem is the fundamental attitude of the Japanese media class that they have no obligation or duty to pass on the information they collect to the “masses.”

But her connection with Yakuzas were no surpirse to anyone.

She probably stopped making people money and then they realized what they knew the whole time.

But that’s not even a news,Marxy.

But I know what you mean. Part of the reason is probably because all of the major newspapers form media conglomerate with TV stations,thus keeping good relation with entertainment business is crucial to their business. That’s why they tend to see-no-evils.

The M-1 comedy championship aired last months had Nakata Kaus as one of the juries. Which was met with surprise. Since Yoshimoto was under severe criticism for Nakata’s connection with underworld.

I’m more interested in recent purging of Hosoki Kazuko from two primetime shows.
Shukanshi like Gendai tells us she is connected with Yamaguchi-gumi.(Gendai has been reporting series of Hosoki related scandals since last year).
But her connection with Yakuzas were no surpirse to anyone. I see some police arrests in near future.

If the situation get worsened enough to have someone gets busted then we weigh in. But I think this is exceptional for J-media.