Masayuki Takayama dissects the fabricated “Moritomo/Kake” narrative, the anti-public bias of Asahi Shimbun, and the deeper reasons behind the media’s hostility toward Shinzo Abe. He also explains how Shigeru Ishiba managed to retain influence within the LDP despite contradicting its core direction.

The following chapter was originally published on November 16, 2018, but the entire text has been subjected to search interference, so I am reposting it.

The following continues from the previous chapter.

All emphasis within the text is mine.

As Ogawa Eitarō writes in his book, the Moritomo–Kake scandals were the ultimate example of fabricated reporting, smoke created where no fire existed.

The unity shown by entire news organizations was astonishing.

The evening column “Soryūshi,” now authored by Tsuboi Yuzuru, is a case in point.

At a Japan National Press Club press conference, when Abe pointed out that the paper had failed to address the former Ehime governor’s remarks on the Kake Gakuen issue in the front-page main article, Tsuboi faltered miserably.

Yet he wrote the following:

“Reporting may be an enemy of power, but it is not an enemy of the people.”

“That is why power seeks to incite confrontation between the press and the public.”

No, Asahi’s reporting has clearly treated the Japanese public as the enemy.

In the “This is poison gas” incident, they slandered the Japanese military by misrepresenting a smoke screen as poison gas.

In the coral-reef vandalism case, they reproached:

“This will become a monument to the Japanese spirit. Something that took a hundred years to grow has been casually damaged in an instant—proof of a desolate heart and a poverty of spirit.”

For thirty years, they elevated mere prostitutes into “victims of forced abduction,” placing Japanese below Koreans and allowing Japanese to be despised even more than Chinese.

Has Asahi never reflected on how consistently it has regarded the Japanese people as the enemy?

Asahi’s poetry column is also awful.

“If you would just stop looking at your smartphone and read a newspaper instead, Japanese politics would surely change.”

It is through social media that people who have abandoned the irresponsible mainstream media come to know Japan’s true position.

If Japan still manages to move in the right direction, it is thanks to social media.

This tanka denies that fact and instructs readers to consume the distorted Asahi Shimbun instead.

The fact that it was selected as a “notable work” is utterly abnormal.

To be honest, during my days as a newspaper reporter, I was not well versed in domestic politics.

I assumed it would eventually right itself, but it only grew worse.

I had the opportunity to be taught about this by Wada Masamune, who, though from the media world, is now working hard under the Abe administration.

I spoke about my daily thoughts, including why the media is anti-Abe and why Ishiba can remain in the LDP acting as if he owns the place.

What should Japanese politics be?

If any part of this offers a hint, I would be grateful.

September 2018
Takayama Masayuki