Japanese newspaper boss who influenced the nation’s postwar politics died at 98

TOKYO — Tsuneo Watanabe, the powerful head of Japan’s largest newspaper who had close ties with the country’s powerful conservative leaders, has died, his company said Thursday. Watanabe cultivated close ties with conservative leaders who governed the country across decades, like Yasuhiro Nakasone and Shinzo Abe, and to helped form Japan’s conservative public opinion. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he has met Watanabe a number of times and “learned a lot from him about the war and perspectives on Japanese wartime history.” He said he also recently reread one of Watanabe’s books on the governing Liberal Democratic Party and was impressed by his insights. Ishiba, embattled and heading a minority government after his party’s election loss in October, said “Under the current political situation, I wish we could seek his advice about our party, the democracy and the future of Japan as a peace-loving nation.” Watanabe served as Washington bureau chief and head of the political news section for the paper before becoming president and editor-in-chief of the Yomiuri Shimbun in 1991.