2024-03-31

The following is from Masayuki Takayama’s acclaimed column “Henken Jizai,” which appeared in yesterday’s weekly Shincho.
Masayuki Takayama is the one and only journalist in the postwar world.
He is a world apart from the evil foreigners who call themselves correspondents for the leading Western magazines.
In this week’s issue, readers worldwide will marvel at his article and know I was right about him.
The world will see that the Asahi Shimbun, which you have come to think of as Japan’s leading newspaper, is a newspaper that jumps at the chance to comment on or even happily undermine Japan.
You will learn that the Asahi Shimbun is a group of reporters with a self-serving historical view and anti-Japanese ideology.
How would you feel if they were your country’s representative newspaper?
You would be relieved to know that your country’s representative newspaper, despite some problems, is not an organization of traitorous employees like the Asahi Shimbun.

His Majesty the King’s Hidden Combatants
In late January 1942, when Singapore was about to fall, the Asahi Shimbun published a roundtable discussion on the local Malayan community featuring Murotaro Senda of Senda Shokai and other concerned people.　
Chinese had been fleeing to Malaya since the Opium War, taking advantage of the white rulers to control Malay laborers and sell opium to them.　
Senda introduces that there were “about 300 schools” for Chinese children by the time the Showa era began.
By that time, the tensions between Japan and China had come to a head, and the Chinese began to attack Japanese companies and Japanese residents in Malaya.　
One such incident was that of Yutaka Tani, the Malayan tiger.　
While he was back in Japan, a group of Chinese attacked the town of Terengganu, raped his sister, cut off her head, and carried it away.
It was a brutal act typical of the Shina people.　
After returning from Japan, Yutaka went after the group that had killed his sister and also attacked an opium smuggler, earning him the nickname “Harimao” from the Chinese.
The Shina people believed in the British victory and launched sabotage and terror attacks against the Japanese army.　
The roundtable discussion revealed that the Chinese terrorist group had an organization that was the “Singapore Chinese China Relief General Association” led by Tan Kah Kee, who had been in contact with Chiang Kai-shek. This organization became the central anti-Japanese organization for the entire South Seas.　
Incidentally, Tan Kah Kee also had contacts with Mao Zedong. 
After the war, when the Communist government was formed, he abandoned Malaya and returned to his hometown in Fujian Province.
It was a foolish choice.　
The Japanese had to pay attention to the presence of these Chinese guerrillas while fighting the British and Indian forces.　
So, on average, they advanced 20 kilometers a day.
The Japanese were strong.　
Although not mentioned in the discussion, Torakichi Sakai, a military reporter for the Asahi newspaper, reported a “Chinese-only fighting group” organized by the British Army in Singapore at that time.　
This unit was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John Dalley and boasted a strength of 4,000 men, which was well within the size of a brigade. 
Among the soldiers were communist guerrillas imprisoned in Changi Prison.　
They were characterized by not wearing official military uniforms. 
Their only distinguishing feature was a yellow bandana around their necks.　
They were called “Dalforce” or “Dalley’s Desperadoes” after their commander.　
When the Japanese forces engaged in urban warfare, they disguised themselves as good citizens, looking for an opportunity to attack, and when confronted, they abandoned their guns and fled into the civilian population.　
This fighting in civilian clothes was regarded as guerrilla warfare in violation of international law.　
If caught, international law allows for the maximum penalty.　
During the Singapore invasion, some of the Dalforce were captured, and their presence was revealed.
Nowadays, Singaporean Chinese accuse the Japanese military of purging overseas Chinese, but it was unquestionably they who were responsible for the purge.　
In Alor Star, the first important city conquered in the Malayan campaign, the Kedah government recently restored a cenotaph honoring the heroism of Japanese soldiers and held a lively unveiling ceremony.
In response, local Chinese residents began to make a fuss about the fact that the Japanese army had killed Chinese residents and why the invading army was a hero.　
The state government was stunned and apologized,” reported Mayumi Mamoru of the Asahi Shimbun with glee.　
During the war, the Shina people fought alongside the British army against the Japanese.
They also carried out despicable acts of terrorism and even sent out a detachment of soldiers in prison uniforms.　
How dare he say that it was unjust that they were killed?　
In the meantime, correspondent Sakai, a senior correspondent of Mr. Mamoru, reported on December 30, 1941, that the Malays in the province welcomed the Japanese troops with open arms.　
He also met with Regent M. Dewa, the king of the state, and said, “The British have looked down on us and oppressed us. Now the dawn of our people has come,” he said, expressing his gratitude for the liberation by the Japanese troops.　
They don’t even read the articles of their seniors and fall back on the words of the brutal and lying Chinese.　
The Asahi Shimbun is not selling well. 
Maybe it is Mayumi’s fault.