This article examines how German journalists affiliated with the Foreign Correspondents’ Club produced reporting that led to widespread anti-Japanese sentiment in Germany, exposing the fundamentally hypocritical nature of their discourse and the manipulation of public conscience.

April 23, 2016
They are, by now, virtually equivalent to criminals.
Until August of the year before last, I knew nothing of this, but the German journalists belonging to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, whether acting in line with the editorials of the Asahi Shimbun or according to their own intentions, I do not know,
have produced a situation in which, despite the fact that our peoples live far apart and never meet in daily life, and despite the fact that I myself have never once spoken with a German, as already stated,
and despite the fact that there should be no feelings whatsoever toward each other between our respective citizens,
I read in the newspaper last year the results of an opinion poll showing that about half of Germans now harbor anti-Japanese sentiment as a result of the articles these journalists have continued to write.
It goes without saying that I feel anger and contempt toward these journalists and toward the half of Germans who are so easily manipulated by such low intelligence.
As for this half of the German population, I have a vivid memory of an image that comes to mind.
Anna Netrebko was the main performer, and about five opera singers gave an outdoor concert somewhere in Berlin or thereabouts.
The camera frequently panned across the audience.
The atmosphere of a middle-aged couple was different from that of audiences in places like the United States, and felt utterly fake.
Their gestures and demeanor seemed calculated, as if conscious of the camera and intent on presenting themselves as good people.
Now, I understand clearly what that was.
“The essence of their discourse is fundamentally hypocritical, and in short, they want to be seen as conscientious people.” (Nobuhiko Sakai)
That disturbing and unsettling footage conveyed exactly what kind of people these German journalists and the half of the German public dancing to their tune truly are.