Despite a stable democracy and free expression protections, Japan's press freedom ranking is again described as 'problematic' by a leading index. Analysts suggest political pressure and access limitations, rather than overt repression, contribute to this issue.

Japan is often seen as one of Asia’s most stable democracies, with a sophisticated media industry and constitutional protections for free expression, yet one of the world’s leading press freedom indexes has once again rated the country’s media environment as “problematic”. Analysts and journalists said the label points to a contradiction at the heart of Japan’s press system – reporters are rarely subject to the overt repression seen in authoritarian states, but political pressure, access...