This essay revisits the G7 debate in which Prime Minister Abe fought to include a commitment to fiscal stimulus, and shows how the denial of risk by European leaders and Japanese media was decisively exposed by subsequent global events.

June 24, 2016
I recall this now with an anger that is far from ordinary.
At the G7 meeting just one month ago,
in the face of the major risks latent in the world today,
and the possibility that a crisis greater than the Lehman Shock could occur,
the G7, which must lead the world,
saw Prime Minister Abe struggling to ensure that a commitment not to hesitate over fiscal stimulus would be unanimously included in the declaration,
yet it was plainly evident to all that
there was no danger comparable to the Lehman Shock in the world at present,
and the figures of Germany’s Merkel and Britain’s Cameron, who continued to adopt a cold attitude toward Prime Minister Abe, were on full display.
Whether or not Asahi Shimbun had been in tacit communication with these two from the outset is unknown, but portraying them as possessing absolute correctness and Prime Minister Abe as a foolish man,
Asahi Shimbun brought Masato Hara, described as its chief economic editorial writer, and likely the most foolish man in history, onto TV Asahi’s flagship news program,
and went so far as to have him declare that Prime Minister Abe’s remarks were “utterly nonsensical.”
Okada, the leader of the Democratic Party, whose thinking mirrors that of Asahi Shimbun’s articles, slandered Prime Minister Abe’s statements by claiming that “no danger greater than the Lehman Shock exists in the world and that he is exploiting the G7 for his own purposes.”
The truth of the world has proven that Prime Minister Abe was entirely correct, that is, that he is a completely righteous individual,
and has demonstrated that it is no exaggeration to call the above-mentioned individuals villains.
Now, that same Masato Hara is making statements on “Hōdō Station” that are as malicious and foolish as possible, without apology or shame, though the camera conveyed that, as a public commentator, he has reached the end of the line.
The Japanese people must
burn into their eyes the fact that this shoddiness and this foolishness are the true nature of Asahi Shimbun.
Young people who will have the right to vote this year, in particular, must engrave this into their minds and must never again allow Japan to be dominated by such a foolish and malicious newspaper company.