The Asahi Shimbun received the award for outstanding journalism from the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association on Sept. 3 for a series of exclusive reports exposing misconduct by Japan Post Co.
The reports, which won the news category award for fiscal 2025, detailed how Japan Post had imposed excessively high penalties on subcontractors and had failed to properly ensure that delivery drivers were sober and fit to drive.
“The investigative journalism exposed misconduct rampant within a massive public service enterprise that is deeply connected to the lives of citizens and contributed to its correction,” the association said.
This marks the second consecutive year that The Asahi Shimbun has received the annual award.
The Asahi Shimbun ran a scoop on Japan Post’s penalty fees on the front page of its morning edition on Jan. 6.
It said that a post office in the Kanto region had collected unreasonably high penalty fees from parcel delivery subcontractors that had made mistaken deliveries or received customer complaints—the fees that the Fair Trade Commission determined violated the Subcontract Law.
The article said similar practices were discovered in other regions as well.
Another front-page scoop published in the morning edition on March 11 said that post offices had not properly conducted mandatory “roll calls” to confirm, among other things, whether delivery drivers had consumed alcohol, and that records had been falsified.
In a statement explaining the reason for the award, the association noted that Japan Post revised its penalty fee standards after the newspaper’s inquiry—although the standards had remained unchanged for six months even after Japan Post received guidance from the FTC about the issue.
The association also said the transport ministry revoked Japan Post’s truck transportation business license because of the roll call scandal, prohibiting the use of trucks and other vehicles for five years.
“The series of reports has had a significant impact on society,” the association said.
The association’s fiscal 2025 awards also went to The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, The Hokkaido Shimbun, The Chugoku Shimbun, The Kobe Shimbun and Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK).
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun received the newspaper technology award, which was announced alongside the reporting awards.
An awards ceremony will be held at the association’s annual National Newspaper Convention, scheduled on Oct. 15 in Tokyo.
AloJapan.com