Written on June 26, 2019.
This essay criticizes the reality that people in the Japanese mass media, including those regarded as top journalists, build their judgments about Japanese politics on nothing more than fine-sounding stock phrases such as “oppose one-party dictatorship,” “oppose a single-party government,” and “welcome a first experience.”
It further shows, through concrete examples from newspaper headlines, article text, and photo captions, how formulaic language and dulled linguistic sensibility have penetrated the media, sharply exposing a style of thought stoppage layered over the entire press.

2019-06-26
The fact is that they are constructing their judgments concerning Japanese politics by relying only on words that sound good, but that mean nothing at all if one applies even a little thought.

The following is a continuation of the previous section.
The stock-phrase style that covers the mass media in layer upon layer.
For example, there was a time when I was invited by about four media people at a certain bar and shared drinks with them.
Media Person A
“Nishibe-san, we support the Socialist Party. We hope for the birth of a Socialist Party government.”
I
“That is fine, but for what reason do you support the Socialist Party?”

B
“Nishibe-san, you used to be on the left yourself, so you know this, but as you can see from the present Soviet Union, one-party dictatorship is no good, one-party dictatorship is no good!”
I
“That is certainly no good, but in the case of the Soviet Union, it is a one-party dictatorship in the form of allowing no existence other than the Communist Party and not even allowing the people to vote, whereas in the case of the Liberal Democratic Party, it is a long-term stable government resulting from the people’s vote. Isn’t that a little different, or rather, isn’t it completely different? To shout ‘Overthrow the one-party rule of the Liberal Democratic Party’ amounts to shouting ‘Overthrow the people.’”
C
“Even so, being alone is no good, being alone is no good.”
I
“Certainly, being alone cannot be said to be good. By the way, all of you have children, do you not? I well understand the feelings of parents who want their child to have multiple friends, because if a child has only a single friend, distortions of character might perhaps appear. But if your son’s second friend were a pickpocket or a thief, you could not say that it is good simply because he has more than one friend, could you? Unless you positively say that the Socialist Party is a good party, merely opposing being alone is rather a weak argument.”
C
“At any rate, first experiences are good things. Let us welcome a Socialist Party government as a first experience.”
I
“…By the way, gentlemen, have you ever been buggered by a man? I have not either. But if you step outside this bar, there are lots of gay bars. Even so, I do not think I would go out in search of a first experience.”

The conversation in such a bar itself is of no consequence, but what I wish to point out here is the fact that people regarded as first-rate journalists are constructing their own judgments concerning Japanese politics by relying only on the sort of expressions such as opposition to one-party dictatorship, opposition to a single-party government, and welcoming a first experience, words that sound good, but that mean nothing at all if one applies even a little thought.
If one calls these words a stock-phrase style, then it is not merely that there are not a few stock phrases.
It is this type of stock-phrase style that covers the mass media in layer upon layer.

There was once an incident at a certain university in which an assistant murdered the dean with great cruelty, and the headlines in all the newspapers read, “Shock runs across the campus.”
It was exactly during the summer vacation period.
Having once been a university teacher myself, I know very well how deserted a campus is during summer vacation.
How, in that quiet campus, “shock could run,” I cannot imagine.
To say more, even if stock phrases were at least expressed grammatically correctly, there would still be some hope, but at times one even finds mistaken stock phrases.
This is a story from quite a long time ago, but one newspaper carried the headline, “Saitama Prefectural Assembly, an indecent decision.”
Thinking that the Saitama Prefectural Assembly had perhaps passed a resolution lifting a ban on pornography, I read the article, and in the text as well it was described as “an indecent decision.”
But the content in fact meant “an arbitrary decision.”
In other words, it was reporting that a decision made yesterday had been overturned today, and that tomorrow they were about to hand down the opposite decision, that is, that the decision had changed back and forth repeatedly.
There are even newspaper reporters who cannot distinguish between “midari” and “midara.”

One more example.
Quite recently, when the Recruit trial began, a large photograph of one of the defendants was published, and beneath it there was a caption reading, “An anxious, tense face.”
But the person in the photograph was stout and arrogant, holding his chin high, and by no means looked anxious, nor did he appear tense.
In short, it is merely that the stock phrase is being repeated that the face of a defendant entering a courthouse must be anxious and tense.
And by attaching such a caption, they are trying to suggest that the defendant is trembling before his own guilt, and thus to give the reader the preconception that the crime does in fact exist.
Next, let me touch on a somewhat more concrete point.
To be continued.