Eric Takabayashi wrote:
> Ryan Ginstrom wrote:
> 
>> "Eric Takabayashi" <etakajp@yahoo.co.jp> wrote in message
>> news:41EA3A8F.AC1DFBAC@yahoo.co.jp...
>>> Ernest Schaal wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Does anyone here believe NHK's professed claims that Asahi Shinbun
>>>> libeled them by printing allegations that NHK bowed to political
>>>> pressure in censoring a program on the Emperor's role in war
>>>> crimes? 
>>>> 
>>>> Didn't they profess innocence in the embezzlement scandal too?
>>> 
>>> NHK admitted they bowed to the pressure at their own press
>>> conference last week, and some government official has made his own
>>> comments, so at least, accounts of influence do not seem untrue.
>> 
>> Maybe those in our midst with a knowledge of Japanese law can clear
>> this up, but I believe that in Japan, damaging public statements are
>> subject to defamation (名誉毀損) laws, even if they are true. What
>> matters is if the "victim's" public standing was damaged, whether
>> that standing was deserved or not.
> 
> You will recall it was Ernest the lawyer a while ago, claiming that x
> was not libel or slander if it was true.

Under U.S. law, truth is an absolute defense to defamation.