After the International Court ruling on the South China Sea, NHK devoted serious coverage, while Asahi Shimbun–aligned media minimized and deflected the issue.
This essay documents the contrast and exposes the priorities behind Japan’s major media outlets.

2016-07-14
On the 12th, when the International Court issued its ruling on China’s actions in the South China Sea, after watching NHK’s Watch 9 from 9 p.m., I wondered how Hodo Station would handle it.
Lately, I had almost stopped watching altogether, feeling that even watching was a waste of time, but I switched channels and watched.
Those who watched NHK and then continued on must have felt that my assessment of the relationship between Asahi Shimbun and China was entirely correct.
NHK treated this as the most significant event of the day, devoted substantial time to it, invited a university professor who was an expert on the subject, and explained the contents of the ruling in detail.
In contrast, TV Asahi’s China correspondent continued speaking as if he were a spokesperson for China.
Even the host, Tominaga, seemed irritated and made a brief remark suggesting that this was going too far.
It was dreadful.
As for the ruling itself, they merely had the familiar female newscaster speak briefly, and the time spent was incomparably shorter than that of NHK.
The so-called cultural figures who align with Asahi Shimbun, led by Kenzaburo Oe, are likely mostly anti-Emperor advocates.
That is probably where the true sentiments of Asahi Shimbun’s editorial writers lie.
For Asahi Shimbun, the Emperor’s announcement yesterday of his intention to abdicate while still alive may have been a godsend.
It allowed them to escape from discussing the International Court’s ruling against China.
Asahi Shimbun would surely prefer to avoid reporting on this matter as much as possible.
The Nikkei, even today, devoted ample space to two articles, one headlined “China Suffers Complete Defeat, Panicked Rebuttal,” and another titled “Criticism Redirected at Japan,” with the subtitle “China’s Aim to Deflect Domestic Dissatisfaction.”
Meanwhile, Asahi, claiming to have conducted opinion polls on the results of the House of Councillors election, is desperately—or perhaps frantically—writing as if public opinion aligns exactly with what its editorial writers have long asserted.
The persistence and self-justifying excess of this newspaper have reached an extreme.
It thinks only of justifying itself, rather than of Japan or the Japanese people.
This is precisely what it means to fall by one’s own words.
To be continued.