Asahi Shimbun
January 31, 2014

The NHK Broadcasting Center in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The NHK Broadcasting Center in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
A veteran radio show commentator quit his job at Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) after the public broadcaster told him to drop the subject of nuclear power during the Tokyo gubernatorial election, sources said.

For about 20 years, Toru Nakakita, a professor of economics at Toyo University, had been in charge of the “Business Outlook” segment of the “Radio Asa Ichiban” show aired weekdays from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. on NHK Radio Daiichi.

Nakakita said his original manuscript for the Jan. 30 program pointed out the increase in costs for the resumption of nuclear reactor operations, saying “damages to be paid in the wake of a nuclear plant accident are extraordinarily high.”

However, when he showed the manuscript to a program director on the day before the scheduled broadcast, Nakakita was asked to change the theme.

He said that NHK told him not to talk about “nuclear issues during the Tokyo gubernatorial election campaign period.” The election is scheduled for Feb. 9.

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