TOKYO (TR) – East Japan Railway Co. has halted publication of a monthly magazine after it was learned that the content of a recent article was faked, the company revealed this week, reports Kyodo News (July 30).
The June issue of JR East included content that was claimed to be from an interview with “international economist Masatsugu Urano,” who does not exist.
The content was actually taken from another interview with professor Shujiro Urata of Waseda University that was originally published in the same magazine in its March, 2013 issue, the company said on Tuesday.
JR East, which has a circulation of around 24,000, is included in the seats of Shinkansen bullet trains. It also appears at libraries and government offices.
The July issue of JR East included an apology for the fabrication. It also said that publication of the magazine was being halted.
In the fake article, JR East included an image of Urata that had been modified with computer software from what appeared in the issue six years earlier, JR East said.
The fake article was utilized after another article scheduled for the June issue could not be completed by the deadline.
The matter emerged after Urata himself raised a question about “whether or not the photograph” is of him.
