This article presents Masayuki Takayama’s sharp critique of Asahi Shimbun’s distorted historical narrative, its China-friendly bias, and editor Masato Hara’s misguided optimism about China’s rise. It examines issues such as China’s intellectual-property theft, oppression in Xinjiang and Tibet, and the approaching limits of Communist Party rule. The article also analyzes the dismissive arguments of Keizai Doyukai’s Mikitani Kobayashi regarding Japan’s industrial capabilities, and highlights global experts who argue that the 21st century should learn from Japan’s resilient technological and economic model.

A Japanese person feels weary just imagining such a country ruling the world, but Hara seems to regard it as a celebratory event.
December 13, 2024.
Asahi Shimbun is, without exaggeration, boring.
One of its selling points, the column Tensei Jingo, does not even feel like a proper column, merely a series of explanations citing books and people no one knows, and most of the time it ends with “and in any case, Japan is bad.”
This chapter was originally published on March 1, 2019.
The text had been repeated in previous postings.
I corrected and reposted it.
A close friend, an avid reader, bought today’s issue of Weekly Shincho for me.
He did so in order to let me read the essay by Masayuki Takayama, the only truly unique journalist in the postwar world.
Asterisks indicate my own notes.
The Century of Japan
Asahi Shimbun is, without exaggeration, boring.
Its well-known column Tensei Jingo is not even a column but an explanatory essay that cites obscure books and unknown figures, only to conclude with “and therefore Japan is at fault.”
Even when discussing the outrageous behavior of South Korea, it diverts the topic by saying “because Japan colonized Korea,” ignoring the fact that it was annexation, not colonization.
It also describes the previous war solely from the American point of view—“it was a war of aggression,” “Japan exploited and brought misery to the peoples of Asia.”
Such a distorted column is promoted with the claim “copy it exactly because it will appear on exams.”
It is worse than MacArthur’s brainwashing.
Political reporting is also terrible.
They ridicule the Olympic Minister Sakurada for being tongue-tied or for misspeaking.
How is that different from mocking a person with a stutter?
They endlessly disparage Japan while extending warm sympathy to China and Korea.
China has stolen advanced technology from other nations and profited by producing counterfeit goods; their fake high-speed rail is a good example.
But once Trump and Pence declared they would no longer allow intellectual-property theft and took concrete action, China immediately began floundering.
Moreover, there is the theory of 72 years for communist states.
Many communist regimes have been established, but all have been short-lived.
Even the longest-lasting, the Soviet Union, collapsed after 72 years.
China’s Communist regime will reach that 72-year mark next year.
Historians, as well as Kaori Fukushima, say that limit is real.
Yet Asahi Shimbun’s editorial writer, Hara Masato, writes: “I went to China; everyone was lively, and Alibaba executives showed not the slightest worry.”
He went even further, saying China’s GDP “is closing in on that of a fading United States and will overtake it sometime in the 2020s,” and that “the trade war launched by the U.S. looks like an act of desperation and fear.”
He predicts that China—built on intellectual-property theft and ruthless ethnic cleansing in Xinjiang and Tibet—will become tomorrow’s global superpower.
A Japanese person feels weary just imagining such a country ruling the world, but Hara seems to regard it as a joyous occasion.
Japan would like to deliver a sharp sting to the top of China’s head, but Asahi brings out Mikitani Kobayashi, the head of Keizai Doyukai, to declare “that won’t happen.”
According to Kobayashi, “Japan as a technological powerhouse is a thing of the past. Technology has already been taken by China, telecommunications belong entirely to Huawei, and Japanese people are oblivious, like boiling frogs.”
He even says, “degraded Japanese have no energy left to challenge new things.”
But Japan has continued to take on challenges.
For example, in the 1970s Japan independently developed a nuclear-powered ship, following the U.S., the Soviet Union, and Germany.
The dream reactor, the fast breeder reactor, reached practical realization ahead of the world, but both projects were crushed by Asahi’s fake news.
Kobayashi is simply ignorant of these facts.
If he knew them, he would not speak of “boiled-frog Japan” in Asahi.
Kobayashi also criticizes “Japan’s 175 trillion yen of debt,” lamenting that “next-generation technology development funding cannot be easily provided.”
But in reality, enormous research funds are being allocated.
The problem is that they have been scattered toward anti-Japan leftists in the humanities such as Jiro Yamaguchi.
Kobayashi does not know this either.
Then how does the world see Japan?
Michael Schuman, author of Confucius and the World He Created, declares, “The great challenge of the 21st century is building strong industrial power to win global competition, and the model for that is—surprisingly—Japan.”
He adds, “We have entered an era in which deep tradition, not China’s superficial imitation, will prevail.”
Adair Turner, a leading authority in the British economic world, says, “Aging Japan transformed even those in their seventies into a labor force through technological innovation,” and regarding Japan’s debt exceeding twice its GDP, he argues, like Yoichi Takahashi, that “once government assets and Bank of Japan interest are considered, the actual burden is only about 60 percent of GDP.”
His conclusion: “In the 21st century, learn from Japan.”
Daniel Moss of Bloomberg also states, “The world that once looked toward China will now look toward Japan, which has overcome aging and deflation.”
When Asahi Shimbun and Keizai Doyukai disappear, Japan will flourish.
Asterisks note: The redevelopment of Umeda North Yard—Japan’s finest commercial location—was crucial to Osaka’s revival, but Asahi hindered the project using Yukiko Takenaka of Osaka Keizai Doyukai.
The construction of Asahi’s flagship Nakanoshima Twin Towers was carried out by Takenaka Corporation.
Thanks to the chaos inflicted on the North Yard project and the economic boost brought by Abenomics, Asahi managed to fill all its tenants.
As a result, Asahi Shimbun is now a company that profits from real estate, able to survive even if its newspaper fails.
But one must wonder whether God will truly allow such a vile, treacherous, and traitorous company to continue existing.