Both Ishikawa and Kinameri have long denied American government funding, but it is widely known that the writers at Heibon Publishing did receive logistical assistance from the U.S. Embassy of Japan starting with “Illustrated Reportage.” Japanese editors travelling to the United States needed guidance on where to stay and what to do, and until the 1980s, the American embassy was the best place in Tokyo to obtain that information. Popeye’s primary funding came from commercial entities with a clear business interest: airlines and trading companies underwrote Popeye’s overseas reporting in hopes
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