Media access to imperial couple limited

Media access to the imperial couple’s visit will be very limited, with Japan’s Imperial Household Agency allotting only four slots to foreign media and the local media, and four slots to the Japanese media.

There are 250 media representatives—115 foreign press and over 100 from Japan—covering the event.

Press secretary Pete A. Callaghan said he is tasked to fill the slots but it is the Imperial Household Agency that decides how many would be allowed. He said it is being worked out if the number of slots can be increased to accommodate more members of the media.

As of now, he said, he has to subscribe to the “four–four” slot sharing or media pooling.

Media pooling means that information and photos gathered by a media personnel who goes to the site will be shared with the other media.

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, who will arrive Monday afternoon, will visit 20 different sites on island.

At each site visit, four Japanese media representatives and four non-Japanese media, including the local media, will be allowed.

“I’m doing my best so I could be fair to everyone,” Callaghan said, noting that he would apportion the slots at each site to both local and international media.

There are two daily newspapers on the island, two weekly broadsheets, a cable TV, and several radio stations and magazines. Among the international media are CNN, The New York Times, Associated Press, Agence France Presse, and British Broadcasting Corp.

All major Japanese media are expected to cover the visit. They are staying at the Dai Ichi Hotel Saipan Beach.

The hotel has two designated press centers: Hibiscus Hall for the Japanese media and the Claret Room for “all other” media. The centers will open today until Wednesday.

Meantime, Callaghan said that based on the Japanese government’s protocol, the media can only cover the imperial couple’s movements from place to place.

Unlike other heads of states, the Japanese imperial couple do not grant media interviews.

“There is no press conference,” he said.

The imperial guests will stay the night on June 27 at the Japanese-owned Hotel Nikko Saipan, located at the far north of the island. The couple will depart Saipan on Tuesday afternoon, June 28.

Authorities said that the imperial couple will bring along their own chef to prepare their food.

While on Saipan, the couple will reportedly wear formal Western clothes, not the traditional kimono outfit.

About 200 federal security personnel, led by the U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are tasked to protect the imperial couple on Saipan.

Local authorities said that the security protocol will be extremely strict during the two-day stay of the couple on the island.

Callaghan earlier asked the public to be patient as several streets will be closed during the visit and a never-before-seen security process will be implemented throughout the day on Tuesday.