Tokyo District Court and Tokyo High Court, stating that groups such as kisha clubs must not be allowed to obstruct journalists wishing to attend at the offices of the Metropolitan Police and give questions, but the application was refused. A special appeal is being made to the Tokyo High Court. November 8, 2005 When a journalist from NHK Ōtsu bureau was arrested in relation to an arson incident, the offices of the Shiga Prefecture Police kisha club to which he belonged were searched by the Shiga Prefecture Police. Reporting agreements Kisha clubs often make agreements on reporting, which are known as because they are communicated via a blackboard in a press room. The aim of making reporting agreements is often to avoid excessive competition during reporting. Agreements may also be made based on a request by, for example, the police, to protect the victims in cases such as kidnappings. These backroom agreements came under criticism following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, when they were blamed for causing journalists to self-censor, and limit their coverage to official announcements by government and plant officials. Magazine kisha clubs In 1956, the association was set up, containing " and , formed from member companies, to expedite the reporting activities related to magazine editing". Advantages of kisha clubs Setting up a kisha club allows bodies such as government agencies to communicate official announcements rapidly to the media. In particular, it simplifies reporting in the case where the body giving the report gives the time of the announcement to the club. At the same time, it is possible to set up transmission equipment for each media company in the press room, reducing the time taken between gathering information and editing. If, for example, local authorities want to provide information, it is easy to convey it by communicating with the kisha club for a higher-level body. Defenders of the system also argue that the kisha clubs' influence is used to open up the institution they are covering to scrutiny, although this argument would seem self-contradictory. Disadvantages of kisha clubs The kisha clubs have been widely criticized, both in Japan and abroad, for encouraging an extreme type of access-driven journalism that undermines the quality of journalism in Japan by stifling criticism and turning reporters into mouthpieces for the institutions that they are supposed to cover. In one representative criticism, Jonathan Watts, the former Tokyo bureau chief for