This article examines a fabricated ranking that claimed Japan’s press freedom was inferior to South Korea’s and shows how the same actors who created the narrative amplified it through major media outlets, exemplifying a classic case of “match-pumping.”

April 23, 2016

The other day, a man named David Kaye created a truly laughable chart claiming that Japan, a country possessing freedom and intellect among the highest in the world alongside the United States, ranks even below South Korea in terms of press freedom, and then boldly held a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, revealing the absurdity of the correspondents’ association itself.
Although they themselves were the masterminds behind this matter, they pretended ignorance and first devoted a large segment on TV Asahi’s “Hōdō Station” to reporting it—using public airwaves—and then, the following day, the Asahi Shimbun, again feigning innocence, ran an article in its morning edition stating that Japan’s press freedom was declining and that concerns were being raised from abroad.
What they did in this case is called “match-pumping.”

Match-pumping (from Wikipedia)

Match-pumping is a Japanese-made loanword that refers to a hypocritical method or act of self-staged deception.
“Match” originates from English, while “pomp” originates from Dutch (in English, “pump”).
As illustrated by the metaphor of “starting a fire oneself with a match and then extinguishing it oneself with a pump,” the term is used to describe acts in which one deliberately creates a problem or disturbance, or where one’s own actions are the root cause, and yet one skillfully pretends ignorance, plays the role of resolving or containing the issue, and seeks praise or benefit for doing so.