This essay argues that the so-called Moritomo–Kake scandal represented a media-led political campaign and reflects on its outcome.
By analyzing Asahi Shimbun editorials, it raises broader questions about media responsibility, narrative framing, and democratic accountability.

January 17, 2019.
The so-called Moritomo–Kake issue, in my view, was a cabinet-toppling campaign driven by impression management orchestrated by the Asahi Shimbun, staking its corporate fate on it, and that campaign now appears to be ending in conspicuous failure.
When observing authoritarian states such as China and North Korea, one often sees a tendency to accuse others of what they themselves are doing.
A chapter I published on September 18, 2018 under that theme should be reread by the Japanese public and by people around the world.
Since August four years ago, I stopped subscribing to the Asahi Shimbun.
Initially I continued reading it in order to monitor what I regarded as biased reporting, but I concluded that such monitoring should be the work of professional commentators, not myself, and therefore I terminated my subscription decisively.
Nevertheless, I believe that rigorously criticizing what I consider irresponsible reporting by the Asahi Shimbun remains an essential role of public commentators in Japan.
While searching online just now, I discovered someone who fulfills that role within what may be called the greatest library in human history, the internet.
Under the subtitle explaining the truth behind the yuan and the precarious state of the Korean economy, a commentator publishing under the title “Shinjuku Accountant’s Political and Economic Review” has produced a remarkable analysis based on recent Asahi editorials.
It is a work that skillfully dissects what he regards as the peculiar and abnormal nature of the Asahi Shimbun.
It is a must-read essay for the Japanese public and for people around the world.
Emphasis in the text, except for headlines, is mine.
[Asahi Critique] It is rather the Asahi Shimbun that is corroding democracy.
Reading recent Asahi editorials, one gets the impression that the campaign the newspaper has waged with full force against the administration is now returning to it like a boomerang.
Some time ago, our website began “watching Asahi editorials.”
The reason was not merely inspired by the proverb, “Know the enemy and know yourself, and you need not fear a hundred battles.”
Rather, it is because I feel it is my role as a web commentator to monitor and convey the arguments of the Asahi Shimbun.
Today I introduce an Asahi editorial titled “The End of Abe’s Dominance—Concern Over the Decay of Democracy.”
The phrase “decay of democracy” is extraordinary.
Democracy is the foundation of Japan, and if it were truly decaying, Japan itself would be decaying.
Yet the editorial focuses on criticism of legislative procedures and political responsibility.
It refers to a “Casino Implementation Act,” although the correct name is the Act on Development of Specified Integrated Resort Areas, commonly known as the IR Act.
A news organization should use accurate terminology.
While criticizing legislative passage procedures, the editorial does not address the prolonged absence of opposition parties from deliberations.
Regarding the Moritomo and Kake issues, it states that the truth remains unresolved, but it does not clearly indicate which law, if any, was violated.
In authoritarian states such as China and North Korea, it is common to project one’s own actions onto others.
A similar rhetorical pattern can be perceived in these editorials.
The Asahi criticizes the administration for failing to explain itself, yet the media too bear responsibility for explanation.
Coverage of the Moritomo–Kake issue was perceived by some as impression-driven.
However, in the October 2017 general election the ruling coalition achieved a decisive victory.
This may indicate a decline in the influence of traditional mass media.
Surveys suggest that those who rely primarily on newspapers and television show higher disapproval of the cabinet, while those who trust social media and the internet show higher approval.
The influence once held by the Asahi Shimbun may be diminishing.
The editorial states that a “new phase” has begun, but that phrase may equally apply to the Asahi Shimbun itself.
Its management and influence may now be entering a new phase.