Japanese surprised by interview payment row

Press, 18 November 1981, Page 9

Japanese surprised by interview payment row

NZPA Tokyo A senior editor of a Japanese women’s magazine that paid a SUSIOOO honorarium to the White House for an interview with the wife of President Reagan said he understood the money would go to charity and is “very surprised” at the controversy over the payment. The editor also said that Richard Allen, President Reagan’s top aide for national security, served as go-between in setting up the interview. But he could not confirm that the envelope of money was given to Mr Allen or to some other White House official. Tsugio Takamori said: “I am very surprised and puzzled at the uproar over this interview. We paid the $lOOO according to Japanese custom. “It (the controversy) is a bolt out of the blue tb us. We had no idea that Government officials in the United States are not allowed to receive

more than $lOO. We did everything Japanese style.” Mr Takamori is editor-in-chief of “Shufo-no-Tomo” (“Housewife’s Friend”), a monthly magazine published in Tokyo anti one of Japan’s oldest and most prestigious women’s magazines. It claims a circulation of 500,000; The interview with Nancy Reagan was conducted in Washington on January 21, a day after Mr Reagan’s inauguration. It has become controversial because of disclosures the magazine paid SUSIOOO as a gratuity to Mr Allen for helping set it up. The United States Justice Department is investigating the affair and asked for the co-operation from Japanese police. ' •”* Mr Allen acknowledges receiving the money, but denies there was anything improper. He said he put the money in a safe and forgot about it until it was discovered by. others months later, during a change of offices;

Mr Takamori said the decision to make a contribution and the amount were made a month earlier in a meeting of the editorial staff of “Shufu-no-Tomo.” “The idea of paying $lOOO for this particular interview naturally originated from the magazine,” Mr Takamori said. “When the interview with Mrs Reagan was arranged in late December, I discussed the question of giving an honorarium — as we always do in such cases — and decided that $lOOO would be appropriate.” Mr Takamori said payment of money for interviews is a common practice among magazines in Japan. He said prices range from 3000 yen (about SNZIS) for telephone interviews with “people on the street" to more than 200,000 yen (SNZIOS7) for interviews with celebrities. Long interviews with . distinguished personalities can ;be worth up to 500.000 ven (5NZ1647).'