This essay argues that controversial reporting and activism surrounding historical issues inflicted enormous financial and reputational damage on Japan.
It questions the influence of key figures and media narratives, asserting that Japan’s national honor and credibility have suffered for decades.

January 18, 2019
That Japan and the Japanese people have suffered enormous losses, being forced to pay sums exceeding 10 trillion yen, and that our honor and credibility continue to be gravely damaged even now—what an outrage!
A friend of mine, an avid reader, handed me a page saying, “If one speaks in terms of physiognomy as you sometimes do, they are all people with truly peculiar faces.”
It was the first time I looked closely at a photograph of Yoshiaki Yoshimi.
Kiichi Miyazawa, who maintained throughout his life the pride of being an outstanding graduate of the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Law, should have investigated what kind of person Yoshimi was before going to South Korea, and ultimately should have met him to confirm matters before making that visit.
Had he known that the source was such a man favored by the Asahi Shimbun, he would not have made the irretrievable blunder of bowing repeatedly in South Korea in such a humiliating manner.
It was also the moment I first carefully saw the faces of Yayori Matsui, Yuichi Kaido, Kenichi Takagi, and Etsuro Totsuka.
Because of people with such talkative expressions and peculiar physiognomies, Japan and the Japanese people have suffered the immense loss of being forced to pay more than 10 trillion yen to countries like China and South Korea—countries of bottomless malice and plausible falsehoods—and have had their honor and credibility severely damaged to this day.
No number of reprimands from the Japanese people would be sufficient for these individuals.
All their assets should be confiscated.