Japanese newspaper boss who influenced the nation's postwar politics died at 98

Obit Yomiuri Watanabe - (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Tsuneo Watanabe, the powerful head of Japan's largest newspaper who had close ties with the country's powerful conservative leaders, has died, his company said Thursday. He was 98.

Watanabe, the editor-in-chief of the Yomiuri Shimbun for over 30 years, died of pneumonia at a Tokyo hospital on Thursday, the Yomiuri said.