Observing coverage differences among Japanese media, this essay argues that Japan’s business leaders have begun to free themselves from Asahi Shimbun’s influence. It highlights realities of withdrawal from China and the role of monthly journals in revealing unreported facts.

2016-09-23

When I looked at page three of today’s Nikkei newspaper, I thought, “Huh?”
This was because the Nikkei had written about matters related to the business delegation to China discussed in the previous chapter that NHK had not broadcast at all.
At the same time, having reached a certain conviction, I checked the pages of the Asahi Shimbun. As expected, the Asahi Shimbun had not carried anything at all about the business delegation to China.
The business delegation to China is a group of people who are, for me, equivalent to classmates and seniors.
The conviction that the Nikkei article gave me was that, like myself, they too—having subscribed to and carefully read the Asahi Shimbun and having been influenced, even unconsciously, by its editorials—must have come to know the true nature of the Asahi Shimbun as of August of the year before last, and must have broken free from the state of being controlled by its distorted thinking.
It is also my conviction that, like myself, they must have begun reading monthly magazines filled with facts that the Asahi Shimbun does not write about at all.
Since August of the year before last, I first learned from essays in those monthly magazines that companies face severe difficulties when withdrawing from China. At the same time, I also learned for the first time the fact that South Korea, unlike Japan, ignores the intentions of the Chinese authorities and carries out withdrawals in a manner akin to fleeing in the night.
The Nikkei headline reads, “Speed Up China Withdrawal Procedures,” Business Delegation to China Requests Improvement of Business Environment.
The details will be introduced in the following chapters.