Neither a Monolith, nor a Parrot: Patterns of Japanese Media Reports on Futenma Relocation Controversy

The Japanese government’s efforts to relocate the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa, and the local movement opposing the plan, offer an interesting backdrop for the question: How do media portray politically contentious events marked by a great power disparity between the claimants? Systematic comparison of reports by Asahi Shimbun, Ryukyu Shimpo and Yomiuri Shimbun shows how different media types and orientations—national versus local, center-left versus center-right—influence patterns of media reports on politically contentious issues, and how such patterns evolve over time. The findings, while highlighting media behavior in base politics, offer further evidence—both descriptive and statistical—that Japanese media are not a unitary, homogenous actor, and that, despite the stereotype to the contrary, they do not merely parrot elite views.