This article examines how Asahi Shimbun joined U.S. hysteria over Toyota’s alleged defects, continued its attacks even after the claims were disproven, and never issued an apology—raising fundamental questions about journalistic integrity.

2017-05-07
What follows is a continuation of the previous section.
The following is taken from a discussion titled “Placing Hope for Media Reform in the Younger Generation.”
Mabuchi said that in reality, the media does the exact opposite, publishing reports that only hinder progress.
He noted that they write and say things such as, “Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is burdened by that issue and has no future.”
Takayama responded that this was truly unbelievable.
He said that what struck him most was the uproar over the sudden acceleration incidents involving Toyota’s Lexus vehicles.
Ray LaHood, then U.S. Secretary of Transportation, told people, “Do not drive Toyotas.”
It was an outrageous statement, but what mattered was Asahi Shimbun’s reaction to it.
At the time, the editor-in-chief of Asahi Shimbun was Yoichi Funabashi, and he wrote that “in the United States, Toyota has now become synonymous with defective products.”
The short evening front-page column titled “Soryushi,” which normally consists of four or five lines, instead ran to fourteen lines, saying things like, “I bought a Toyota car and suffered a huge loss,” and “What are they going to do about this?”
The column “Tensei Jingo” likewise repeated accusations about defective Toyota vehicles.
However, no matter how thoroughly the United States investigated, no problems were found with the Lexus.
Because that result was inconvenient, LaHood brought the matter to NASA, insisting that a defect be found by any means necessary.
Even then, it was confirmed that there was absolutely no defect.
Once the facts became clear, LaHood stated that he had recommended Toyota vehicles as safe to his daughter and that she had actually purchased one, effectively offering an apology and a gesture of contrition.
And yet, Asahi Shimbun, despite having published such extensive attacks on Toyota from the editor-in-chief downward, issued neither an apology nor a correction.
They rode on the coattails of the United States to denounce Japanese products, and when it became clear that they were wrong, they simply pretended nothing had happened.
When I read Asahi Shimbun, I find it incomprehensible as a fellow journalist.
I cannot believe that something like this can be called a newspaper, and it is high time that the people at Asahi engaged in some serious reflection.
Figures such as Hiroshi Hasegawa and Kiyoshi Nagae have begun to say sensible things,
but one cannot help wanting to say, “Do not say it after you leave Asahi—correct it while you are still inside.”
Still, it is not an entirely negative trend.