By examining Asahi Shimbun and Nikkei, this essay argues that Japan’s major newspapers lack the will to strengthen the nation. The absence of historical and civilizational consciousness—symbolized as “Kyoto”—has contributed to economic stagnation and distorted market structures.

2016-03-15

Only recently did I finally come to realize this.

What becomes clear when reading Asahi Shimbun and Nikkei is that within their way of thinking there is absolutely no desire, feeling, intention, or ambition to make Japan a greater or stronger nation.

On the contrary, there is an overwhelming intention to belittle and oppress Japan in accordance with the wishes of agents acting on behalf of South Korea and China.

To be fair, Nikkei does not act as openly in line with South Korean or Chinese interests as Asahi Shimbun does, nor does it frequently publish editorials that overtly pander to those countries.

However, while Nikkei writes about the intentions of the United States or of the international community, there is no sense whatsoever of a will to strengthen its own country.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that they do not even recognize that Japan remains, in practical terms, a superpower second only to the United States.

That is why the Tokyo Stock Exchange is in its current condition.

That is also why Japan has experienced the past thirty years that the entire world now regards with aversion—three decades of prolonged deflation unique to Japan.

The resolve to make one’s own country stronger—a spirit possessed by virtually every nation in the world—is absent in both Asahi and Nikkei.

They lack the courageous spirit that the Japanese people have carried for nearly two thousand years.

To put it more simply, they have Tokyo, but they have no Kyoto at all.