This essay reflects on the moment when Japan’s leading intellectuals began to recognize and articulate the truth that Japan is one of the most free and intellectually rich nations in the world, and how the concept of “The Turntable of Civilization” resonated powerfully with that awakening.

2016-03-28
What follows is a continuation of the previous chapter.
Many of the finest intellects throughout Japan were reading it, which is only natural since they included my classmates, seniors, and juniors.
Now, books are beginning to be published in which authors have recognized, clearly acknowledged, and written boldly and loudly about the fact that Japan is in fact a wonderful country, possessing the greatest freedom and intelligence in the world.
I was convinced that my Nobel Prize–level concept and discovery, “The Turntable of Civilization,” had become a major source of inspiration for these authors.
It was at that moment.
My companion, a close friend of mine and one of Japan’s most avid readers, told me to read a certain passage from the book he was reading.
I had been deeply absorbed in Mr. Kusaka’s book, but I stopped and read the book he handed me.
It was Masayuki Takayama’s 35 Exhilarating Chapters to Awaken the Japanese People.
I was genuinely astonished.
Because at the time, I had been wondering what had become of the lawsuit that arose from Kenzaburō Ōe’s Okinawa Notes, in which the bereaved families of the Japanese soldiers he had condemned accused him of false and unjust descriptions that defamed the honor of the deceased.
As I have written before, I have recently come to feel more often that there are things in this world that cannot be dismissed as mere coincidence.
The passage my friend pointed out was precisely the chapter that dealt with that very matter.
After finishing the chapter, I said, “Ōe is truly despicable.”
Because the sophistry employed by Ōe and the Asahi Shimbun at that time was identical to the sophistry Asahi later used in its press conference, conducted through a third-party committee, following its apology press conference in August the year before last.
It was exactly the same sophistry used to evade the severe consequences that should rightfully have been faced, consequences from which it goes without saying that the proper course for journalism would have been closure.