This essay questions media narratives that portray major Japanese corporations as sources of scandal, citing cases such as Kobe Steel and the linear motor car bidding issue.
It argues that segments of the Japanese media, including major outlets, may be influenced by external political interests hostile to Japan.
Using Masayuki Takayama’s book Henkens Jizai: Trump Does Not Lie as a point of reference, the article explores the deeper structure behind these narratives.
It also praises Takayama as a journalist embodying the spirit and tradition of Japan across its 2,600-year history.

March 28, 2019

Among them there are people virtually equivalent to communists.
They are likely working enthusiastically with China and the Korean Peninsula to discredit Japan.
I republish here a chapter originally released on December 27, 2017 titled “A Man Living Today with the Tradition and Essence of Japan’s 2,600 Years.”
This morning there was a book on my table covered with a cover I had never seen before.
It had been left there by a friend who is an avid reader.
It was a book by Masayuki Takayama titled Henkens Jizai: Trump Does Not Lie.
Strangely enough when I opened the book the page that appeared was page 33 and it contained the chapter I will introduce in the next section.
Is the structure in which collusion among major construction companies related to the linear motor car project is prosecuted truly in the national interest.
Is collusion among construction companies inherently evil.
Is it not rather a practical wisdom devised to ensure the high quality of construction that Japan proudly produces regardless of fluctuations in the market.
The first time I thought about such matters was after the series of media reports beginning with Kobe Steel suggesting that Japan’s world-class corporations had quality problems.
By chance I watched on television the press conference of Fuji Heavy Industries.
Why should such things be reported as if they were wrongdoing.
The expressions on the executives’ faces clearly showed their deep frustration.
Listening to what he said I immediately recognized that the media portraying such matters as wrongdoing were the ones in the wrong.
Indeed they were committing wrongdoing themselves.
The inspection method they were using.
Those performing it were people who fully understood the process and were in the midst of training to obtain certification.
This was essentially the same as trainee teachers conducting practice classes at schools while obtaining their teaching qualifications.
There was nothing wrong with it.
In fact it even seemed more correct.
Like him I felt anger.
At the childishness and lack of learning shown by the media.
Yet these same media calmly cooperate in schemes that degrade Japan.
I felt tremendous anger toward them.
I even became convinced that media organizations such as the Asahi Shimbun and NHK were being manipulated by China and the Korean Peninsula.
It goes without saying that the great corporations Japan proudly presents to the world are thorns in the side of China and the Korean Peninsula.
Germany may also have similar motives.
That is why they continue anti-Japan reporting in cooperation with the Asahi Shimbun and eventually implant anti-Japan sentiment in more than half of the public.
At first this was what I believed.
These problems were occurring because most executives of major corporations were readers of the Asahi Shimbun and had been shaped into people with pseudo-moralistic views while actively hiring Koreans and Chinese living in Japan which resulted in internal information leaks.
Or perhaps because every major corporation has labor unions.
It is well known that among them there are individuals virtually equivalent to communists.
They may well be working enthusiastically with China and the Korean Peninsula to discredit Japan.
When the construction industry corruption scandal appeared as the outcome of such a trend I first felt the concern expressed at the beginning of this passage.
The book mentioned at the beginning clearly demonstrates that Masayuki Takayama is a unique journalist in the postwar world.
It can also be said that it clarifies my concerns.
By reading that chapter alone not only Japanese readers but people around the world will recognize the correctness of my evaluation of Masayuki Takayama.
He is like Kūkai living in the present and like Nobunaga.
As I have written several times Masayuki Takayama is a man living today with the tradition and essence of Japan’s 2,600 years.
He is one of the greatest figures of the twenty-first century.
That chapter will be introduced in the next section.