An exploration of Bushidō as Japan’s ethical framework and how postwar media narratives have eroded long-term political vision.

2018-01-01

Wishing you a very happy New Year!

The following is a chapter originally published on 2016-05-20.

The reality is that the current, extremely unstable world has emerged as a result of Japan being dominated by the editorial writers of the Asahi Shimbun, whose influence turned out to be disastrous for Japan and the Japanese people.

Shiba Ryōtarō once said that the Kamakura-period samurai represented, so to speak, the original archetype of the Japanese people. Their spirit, he said, was encapsulated in the phrase “Name is to be cherished above all.”

The following quotation is taken from the section marked with asterisks at
http://kigyoka.com/news/magazine/magazine_20130618.html

“Medieval samurai fought bravely while saying, ‘Name must be cherished,’ and ‘A person lives but once, but his name lives forever.’ By achieving distinguished military exploits that would be remembered by posterity, they wished for the prosperity of their descendants.”

Nitobe Inazō, comparing Japanese tradition with Western chivalry, wrote that Bushidō, born from Japan’s feudal system, constituted Japan’s moral code. He explained its substance by listing principles such as “righteousness,” “courage,” “benevolence,” “courtesy,” “sincerity,” “honor,” and “loyalty.”

Asahi Shimbun is not a gathering of Japanese in spirit. That is why, throughout the postwar period, they have continuously harmed the honor of Japan and the Japanese people. Rather than cherishing Japan’s name—especially the name built by Japanese over the past 2,000 years—they perversely took the side of China and Korea, inflicting damage on Japan’s reputation. What makes this all the worse is that almost all of it was done through falsehoods.

They lacked entirely the spirit that any competent business leader naturally possesses: the determination to make one’s country larger, stronger, and more prosperous.

Instead, what prevailed was the notion that large corporations are evil—a belief that would be inconceivable in any country other than Japan. Any regular reader of Asahi would understand this without a word being said.

Not only were opposition politicians raised on Asahi Shimbun, but they have also made the newspaper’s articles and editorials their own intellectual foundation. As a result, not a single opposition lawmaker asks questions in the Diet with a grand design aimed at making this country larger or stronger.

What we see instead is a group of people who believe politics consists of shrill voices and camera-conscious attacks on the government—an assembly of kindergarten children. No, it would not be an exaggeration to say they are a group that attacks Japan itself, demeans it, and enthusiastically works to damage the honor of Japan and the Japanese people, indistinguishable from groups aligned with Korean or Chinese interests.

In simple terms, what the Asahi editorial writers say can be reduced to this: large corporations are evil; the Liberal Democratic Party is evil. That is the mindset that defines Japan’s opposition politicians.

To be continued.