This article republishes a chapter originally released on December 27, 2017, titled “A Man Living Today with the 2,600-Year Tradition and Essence of Japan.”
Triggered by media coverage surrounding Kobe Steel and other Japanese corporations, the essay examines the ideological forces behind narratives that undermine Japan’s industries and introduces the insight of Masayuki Takayama, whom the author regards as a unique journalist in the postwar world.

March 28, 2019
Among them are people equivalent to communists…they must be working with China and the Korean Peninsula with delight in the task of undermining Japan.

I hereby republish a chapter that I released on December 27, 2017, titled “A Man Living Today with the 2,600-Year Tradition and Essence of Japan.”
This morning, there was a book on the table covered with a cover I had never seen before.
It had been left there by a friend who is one of the most avid readers I know.
It was a book by Masayuki Takayama titled Henken Jizai: Trump Does Not Lie.
Strangely enough…when I opened the book, on page 33 I found the chapter that I will introduce in the next section.
Is the structure of prosecuting alleged bid-rigging by major construction firms related to the Linear Motor Car truly in line with Japan’s national interest?
Is bid-rigging among general contractors inherently evil in the first place?
Rather, could it not be a practical wisdom devised by knowledgeable people to secure the excellence of the buildings Japan prides itself on, regardless of fluctuations in market conditions?
The first time I ever thought such a thing was after the media continued reporting, beginning with Kobe Steel, as if there were serious quality problems with major corporations that Japan proudly presents to the world, and I happened to watch a press conference by Fuji Heavy Industries on television.
…Why is something like this reported as though it were wrongdoing…that sense of frustration and indignation was clearly visible in the expressions of the company executives, and when I listened to what he was saying,
I immediately recognized that it was the media reporting this as wrongdoing that was strange—no, that it was the media itself that was wrong.
Rather, the inspection method they were carrying out…the process thoroughly understood and actually performed by those engaged in it…who were also in the midst of training to obtain certification…was no different from teachers conducting practical training classes in schools while acquiring their teaching licenses, and I even felt that there was absolutely no problem with it—indeed that it was the correct approach.
Like him, I felt indignation…at the extreme immaturity and lack of study on the part of the media.
And yet these same media organizations calmly lend their hand to schemes that undermine Japan, which filled me with intense anger.
I even came to feel certain that media organizations such as Asahi 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 have similar elements as well…that is why they continue to collude with Asahi and produce anti-Japan reporting, eventually implanting anti-Japan sentiment in a majority of the people.
At first, this is what I thought.
These problems were occurring because almost all executives of these major corporations were subscribers to the Asahi Shimbun and had been molded into holders of pseudo-moralism, and as a result of hiring many ethnic Koreans and Chinese residents in Japan, internal information was leaking.
Or…every major corporation has labor unions, and it is well known that among them are people equivalent to communists, so I felt that they must be working with China and the Korean Peninsula with delight in the task of undermining Japan.
Since the culmination of such a flow became the general contractor corruption scandal, I felt for the first time 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.
By reading that chapter alone—which could be said to clarify my concerns—not only the Japanese people but people around the world will recognize the correctness of my evaluation of Masayuki Takayama.
As I have written several times, he is a Kūkai of the present age, and also an etc., and a Nobunaga of today; Masayuki Takayama too is a man who lives in the present carrying the 2,600-year tradition and essence of Japan.
He is one of the greatest figures of the 21st century.
That chapter will be introduced in the next section.