Published on April 27, 2017, this essay exposes how Japanese opposition parties and major television networks colluded to exploit the Moritomo issue purely for ratings, ignoring substantive parliamentary debate. Based on Senator Shigeharu Aoyama’s detailed account in Monthly HANADA, it reveals a level of press freedom so excessive that it devolves into deliberate distortion—an inconvenient reality ignored by Reporters Without Borders.

April 27, 2017.
How recklessly the Japanese media report the news, that is, how they repeatedly engage in arbitrary reporting so malicious that it would not be an exaggeration to call it vicious, despite possessing an unparalleled degree of press freedom, is made unmistakably clear by House of Councillors member Shigeharu Aoyama in the latest issue of the monthly magazine HANADA released yesterday.
I had intended to inform the Japanese public—those of us who once subscribed to newspapers such as the Asahi Shimbun and watched Japanese television news—of facts we had absolutely never known.
But before anything else, I must inform the people of the international NGO Reporters Without Borders.
The following is taken from a ten-page, three-column essay entitled “Crises Always Wear New Masks.”
All emphasis in the text other than the headings is mine.
Introduction omitted.
The reason Japan stands idly by in the face of this imminent crisis is that the self-styled liberals who advocate distancing from the United States, namely the postwar majority, have entrusted the survival of the nation entirely to America.
What, then, is Japan actually doing.
At this very moment, a dark parliament continues at the core of Japanese politics.
Shortly before the emergency Abe–Trump phone call over the North Korean crisis, in late March, a meeting of the House of Councillors Committee on Economy, Trade and Industry was held on the second floor of the annex building.
I was present as a representative of voters and citizens, so I will describe what transpired.
The agenda was the commissioned review of the FY2017 budget, approximately 97.5 trillion yen, in which the Budget Committee delegates specialized sections of the economic and industrial budget to the relevant committee for detailed scrutiny.
The first ruling-party lawmaker to question exposed the shocking reality that government-certified “business management advisors” for small enterprises often had zero professional experience.
In the midst of revealing this unglamorous yet serious issue, two men entered the committee room, one carrying a large television camera on a tripod and the other carrying audio equipment.
There were hardly any spectators, but any ordinary citizen would have thought, “Oh, they are finally going to cover an important issue properly on the news.”
However, this ostentatious television crew never once pointed their cameras at the ruling-party seats, repeatedly aiming instead at opposition Democratic Party members and at Minister Hiroshige Seko in the answerer’s seat, yet never actually recording anything.
At that point, as a former journalist, I already knew what was coming.
A sense of exasperation welled up inside me.
Once the ruling-party questioning ended, a Democratic Party lawmaker took the floor and, as expected, began by saying, “I did not submit this question in advance, but since public interest is strong, I would like to ask about the Moritomo issue.
Minister, what are your thoughts.”
At that moment, the cameras suddenly started rolling.
Minister Seko replied that he had absolutely no involvement and added that public interest was being fueled by mere rumors and unsubstantiated claims, including baseless gossip he himself had been confronted with overseas.
The Democratic Party lawmaker then abruptly switched back to the scheduled topic of automobile taxation, and instantly the television crew packed up and left the room.
This scene, seemingly trivial, vividly exposed a grave and rotten collusion.
After the session, I asked a conservative-leaning acquaintance within the Democratic Party, “Wasn’t there a party directive to ask that question.”
“Yes,” he admitted, “effectively there was.”
“So despite no evidence whatsoever of ministerial involvement, you are told to ask anyway, and as a result you lose time for substantive questions.
Why obey such orders.”
“Well, we have to.”
“I would expect that from the Communist Party.
But the Democratic Party as well.”
“Well, it gets ratings.
The Moritomo issue allows us to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with television.”
Readers will understand.
First, the Democratic Party informs television networks that Moritomo questions will be raised in every committee, disclosing the exact timing.
The television networks show zero interest in substantive policy debates affecting citizens’ lives, appearing only at the designated time to film the Moritomo exchange between the opposition lawmaker and the minister.
They then broadcast headlines such as “Moritomo Pursued Across Committees” and “Government Struggles Under Questioning.”
Is this what viewers want.
I want to shout, “Do not insult the Japanese people.”
I harbor even greater anger toward the members of Reporters Without Borders.
While it is frightening that Communist and Social Democratic members berate ministers over ideology in budget committees, these quieter forms of darkness are also deep shadows within Japan’s parliament, unknown to the public.
To be continued.

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