A February 2, 2017 commentary exposing how The Japan Times—largely unknown in content to 99% of Japanese citizens—has served as a conduit for anti-Japanese propaganda abroad. The article details its repeated use of the term “sex slaves,” its distortion of government statements, its influence on major Western outlets such as The Washington Post and The New York Times, and its structural ties with Asahi Shimbun.

2017-02-02

Ninety-nine percent of Japanese people do not know what kind of articles The Japan Times publishes.
Yet this Japan Times is transmitted to the world as if it were the sole English-language paper representing Japan.
There is no reason why the governments and intelligence agencies of China and South Korea would not use this media outlet for their anti-Japanese propaganda.
Just by checking Wikipedia for the first time, I found the following information.
The Japanese people and the Japanese government can no longer allow this foolish behavior from this newspaper.
Omitted.
The Japan Times reported that in a TV program on the night of January 11, Foreign Minister Michio Watanabe’s remark—“We must admit that there was some involvement”—meant that “a Japanese government official has admitted for the first time that the Japanese military forced hundreds of thousands of Asian comfort women into forced prostitution,” and spread this worldwide.
(Ikuhiko Hata has stated that this does not reflect what Watanabe actually said.)
A 2014 J-CAST News investigation found more than 5,000 instances of the term “sex slave” on The Japan Times website, showing how habitual the usage had become.
Searching for the word “slavery” in English produced more than 200 results, indicating that this narrative had been firmly established in foreign media as well.
In response to J-CAST’s inquiry on December 3, the Corporate Communications Department of The Japan Times admitted, “We confirm that these expressions have been used since around 1992. We will continue striving to use appropriate wording in our English-language reporting.”
However, the paper continued its zealous reporting.
In 2016, it formally declared as editorial policy that “it is appropriate to describe the women forced into sexual acts by the Japanese military before and during World War II as ‘sex slaves’.”
Even when using the neutral term “comfort women” for Japan’s government position, it continually equated comfort women with sexual slavery.
Due in part to continued reporting by The Japan Times and Asahi Shimbun, major Western outlets such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Guardian, and CNN began using the term “sex slaves” when reporting on the Japan–South Korea agreement.
Omitted.
This absurd media outlet continues even today to transmit articles to the world as if it were Japan’s representative English-language newspaper.
Furthermore, Asahi Shimbun also appears here.
Omitted.
The company belongs to the Nifco Group, and its distribution network is linked to the Asahi Shimbun group (and to the Chunichi Shimbun group in Aichi, Gifu, and Mie).
Omitted.