Job Seeking in Japan

Scarcely any American editor (or reporter) believes that it is possible to measure journalistic ability by taking a test. In the U.S., anyone can become a journalist who can persuade an editor to give him a job (which is one reason why journalism sometimes has a hard time maintaining that it is truly a profession). By contrast, in Japan, would-be journalists must take tough examinations, civil service style, in competition for prized positions with the nation's five national and 110 local newspapers. Editorial work is so much more attractive than a business career to Japanese students that some 8,000 aspirants vie each year for only 500 or so vacancies nationwide. July is exam time in Japanese journalism, and thousands are now waiting anxiously to find out if they can become trainees next spring.

Only university graduates and those about to receive degrees are eligible, and competition is almost literally cutthroat for spots on the national dailies: Asahi (circ. 6,000,000), Yomiuri (5,800,000), Mainichi (4,700,000), Sankei (1,900,000) and Nihon Keizai (1,400,000). Disappointed candidates have been known to commit suicide.

Two Rounds. Asahi's exam was typical. Some 900 candidates turned out at Tokyo's Keio University to compete for about 30 openings. Many were trained in law, engineering, medicine and other fields, but all preferred journalism. "Curing sick people is meaningful," said a young medical student, "but reporting is just as valuable because it is treating the sickness of society."

Asahi's test was in three parts. A general-knowledge section contained questions on such varied subjects as the Japanese constitution, dollar convertibility, ancient Japanese literature, West Germany's Ostpolitik and the chemical formula for polychlorinated biphenyl. There were five separate items on the proper reading of difficult Chinese characters that are used in the Japanese language. Next, candidates had to translate into Japanese newspaper articles in one of five languages: English, French, German, Chinese or Russian. Finally, a composition segment called for a concise news article on "my student life."

That was only the first round; the 150 who pass must then undergo an oral session with Asahi editors on a variety of news subjects to determine general comprehension and special interests. The 30 or so who survive will be shipped out to Asahi bureaus for a year or two of apprenticeship alongside veteran staffers before returning to Tokyo headquarters as full-fledged reporters.

Pussyfooting. Those who succeed will join huge reportorial staffs that bring suffocation coverage to any news event. Asahi has about 1,000 reporters and deskmen in its Tokyo office alone (v. 478 for the New York Times's headquarters staff), plus a fleet of 13 planes and helicopters to deploy them all over the country. Because Asahi prints as many as 139 editions round the clock and assigns specialists to virtually every aspect of each big story, there is enough work to keep everyone busy. All major papers send cadres to cover government offices and ministries.

All that may make for prestige and excitement, but a Japanese reporter's ambition to change society--which lures so many applicants--is hardly realistic. Japan's press feels free to criticize, and indeed reduced ex-Premier Eisaku Sato to tears of anger when he left office last month. But editors operate under self-imposed restraints that make muckraking in the Western sense all but impossible. For fear of ruining a man's reputation, the papers tend to pussyfoot and stop short of exposing suspected scandal or wrongdoing. The Japanese press has no Jack Andersons, and those who make it through the exams into journalism are apt to find their high ideals swallowed up by the system.

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