After watching a film, this chapter examines Asahi Shimbun’s coverage of the dissolution of SEALDs and its ideological context.
It serves as a preparatory section before addressing the main argument on media, security legislation, and student movements.

2016-08-22
The introduction became longer than expected, so the main topic will be addressed in the next chapter.
The other day, I watched the film “Glory: Road to Tomorrow,” which was released in theaters in 2015, on WOWOW.
A few days later, Asahi Shimbun published a fairly large article about the dissolution of SEALDs, portraying it as an extremely regrettable event for the newspaper.
This was a group that, to sensible people, clearly appeared to be a student organization with distorted ideas or ties to a specific political party, lacking in intellect and study, and whose leader had been a student influenced by Genichiro Takahashi, a man who was originally supposed to be a novelist but is now a professor at Meiji Gakuin University and a representative figure among so-called cultural elites who still adhere to Asahi Shimbun despite its drastic decline in followers.
Note that when I searched for the spelling and origins of SEALDs, I found the following useful essay.
Omitted introduction.
SEALDs was originally a student organization called SASPL that opposed the Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets.
This may not be widely known, but after the bill was enacted, SASPL became SEALDs, a group opposing the security-related legislation, and depending on how one views it, it has been pointed out that its activities cannot necessarily be said to be for the benefit of the Japanese people.
The Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets is legislation intended to strengthen the protection of Japan’s classified information, and while it can be seen positively as a law to protect national security, it can also be viewed negatively as a law that withholds information from the public.
However, there are people who judge both the secrecy law and the security-related legislation as bad at one particular point.
So who exactly are these people?
They are foreigners engaged in espionage activities in Japan.
In particular, the secrecy law is legislation that foreigners conducting espionage within Japan would absolutely dislike.
Espionage is not merely something that exists in movies, and groups that consistently advocate positions detrimental to Japan may fall into this category, so it is possible that SEALDs emerged as if pushed forward by some unseen force.
The above is from http://arcanaslayerland.com/2016/07/11/sealds/.
This valuable essay contains even more useful points, but I will introduce one brief passage here.
Omitted introduction.
It is surprising that in today’s Japan one can enter university even from a high school with a deviation score of 28, but upon closer examination, it becomes understandable when one learns that Meiji Gakuin University, which Aki Okuda entered, accepts students through AO admissions.
It is said that left-leaning instruction there led to the full-fledged start of such activities.
He is currently enrolled in Hitotsubashi University’s graduate school, which also tends toward an anti-Japanese, self-deprecating view of history, so it would be better not to assume that his admission was based purely on academic merit.
What is even more concerning is his nationality.
When examining whether someone who engages in such activities is truly Japanese, it was found that his father is a South Korean Christian pastor.
Omitted section.
I always felt SEALDs was somehow suspicious, and in today’s internet society, it really seems that such behind-the-scenes manipulation is no longer feasible.
If this were twenty years ago, newspapers like Asahi or Mainichi would have splashed headlines saying “Rise up, young people,” but now such things are quickly exposed, which is somewhat reassuring.
To avoid misunderstanding, it should be added that the core was not the Communist Party but rather an anti-Japanese network originating from alumni of a high school with a deviation score of 28.
Omitted ending.
The introduction became longer than expected, so the main topic will be addressed in the next chapter.