Another Outsider Named To Lead Japan's Top Broadcaster

Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) will continue its recent practice of selecting a president from outside the broadcaster with the appointment of Nobuo Inaba, a former executive director of the Bank of Japan, serveral sources told Asahi Shimbun.

Photo Insert: Inaba will be NHK’s sixth consecutive president who is appointed to the role from outside the corporation.

The company’s Board of Governors, the decision-making body for NHK’s management and operations, decided on Dec. 5 to appoint Inaba to succeed outgoing President Terunobu Maeda, the sources said. The 77-year-old Maeda’s term will expire in January.

Inaba will be NHK’s sixth consecutive president who is appointed to the role from outside the corporation. The first of the six such presidents was Shigeo Fukuchi, who became the public broadcaster’s president in 2008 after working as an adviser for Asahi Breweries Ltd.

He replaced Genichi Hashimoto, who became NHK’s president after working as the company’s managing director. Hashimoto resigned from his post to take responsibility for an insider trading scandal involving staff at the media group.

Since then, the broadcaster has appointed outsiders as its president starting with Fukuchi. Such presidents had worked for companies including a trading house or a company in the Japan Railways Group.

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