A kisha club (記者クラブ: Kisha kurabu) is a press club that covers an institution in Japan such as the Diet or Sony. Such institutions limit their press conferences to the journalists of its associated kisha club. Membership in the kisha clubs can be restrictive, thereby limiting access by domestic magazines and the foreign media in general to the press conferences. The European Union has officially called for a loosening of the system. Defenders of the system counter that the kisha clubs' influence is used to open up the institution they are covering to scrutiny.

References

• Kisha System Makes for Extra Work, but Doesn't Stop the Presses, Bryan Shih, Japan Media Review
• EU Pressures Japan to End Closed-Door Press Practices, Dorian Benkoil, Japan Media Review
• Statement by the Delegation of the European Commission in Japan in response to the Opinion of the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association - with most browsers you will be presented with a warning. Click the link to enter, then go back in your browser history and reload the page.