Published on January 27, 2020. This article introduces Yoshihisa Komori’s essay in WiLL, “When They See an Opponent, They Hatefully Call Him ‘Idiot,’ ‘Nazi,’ ‘Hitler,’ and So On: The Disease Called the Asahi Shimbun,” presenting the view that the Asahi Shimbun serves as a negative example for Japan. Through the dispute over the San Francisco Peace Treaty between “separate peace” and “comprehensive peace,” it argues that postwar Japan achieved independence and prosperity by choosing the path opposite to the one advocated by the Asahi Shimbun.

January 27, 2020
When Japan faces a grave difficulty and no longer knows which direction it should take, it should proceed in the direction opposite to what the Asahi Shimbun advocates.
That is why it is valuable as a guide.
The following is from an essay by Yoshihisa Komori published in this month’s issue of the monthly magazine WiLL under the title, “When They See an Opponent, They Hatefully Call Him ‘Idiot,’ ‘Nazi,’ ‘Hitler,’ and So On: The Disease Called the Asahi Shimbun.”
It is a wholehearted essay that must be read not only by the Japanese people but also by people all over the world.
Asahi reporters and “Asahi intellectuals” who, driven solely by hatred of Abe, pile up worthless writings without grounds.
Going the “Opposite” Way from Asahi Is Never Wrong
I have read the Asahi Shimbun for many years.
If one counts the eras of Shōwa, Heisei, and Reiwa together, it comes to about fifty years.
During that time, a major reason was of course professional, because I myself was a newspaper reporter, but one could also say that I liked reading the Asahi Shimbun itself.
In the sense that I liked reading it, one might say that I was an avid reader of the Asahi Shimbun.
But that does not mean I loved the Asahi Shimbun.
For about the past thirty years, I have regarded the Asahi Shimbun as a negative example for myself and have felt its value in that respect.
I have taken the mistakes in Asahi’s reporting and commentary as lessons.
It could also be called teaching material for self-admonition, reminding myself never to commit such mistakes.
If I say it with irony, I even think the Asahi Shimbun is a precious treasure for Japan.
That is because its value as a negative example is so high.
When Japan faces a grave difficulty and no longer knows which direction it should take, it should proceed in the direction opposite to what the Asahi Shimbun advocates.
That is why it is valuable as a guide.
The history of postwar Japan has proven that truth.
First is Japan’s independence in 1951.
The signing of the peace treaty with Japan in San Francisco in September of that year became the historical turning point that ended the Allied occupation and restored sovereignty.
Regarding this treaty, in Japan there was a conflict between the argument for a “separate peace” and the argument for a “comprehensive peace.”
A “separate peace” meant a method of limiting the countries with which Japan would conclude the treaty to those belonging to the liberal democratic camp, such as the United States.
In reality, the number of counterpart countries reached as many as forty-eight, so it was not “separate” but a “multiple peace.”
A “comprehensive peace” meant signing the treaty with all countries, including those of the communist camp such as the Soviet Union and China.
The Soviet Union and others raised various objections to the U.S.-led peace settlement with Japan and would not accept it as it stood.
The Asahi Shimbun strongly promoted “comprehensive peace” and fiercely opposed “separate peace.”
But Japan proceeded along the path of “separate peace,” actually multiple peace, and gained independence, peace, and prosperity.
If Japan had chosen the path of waiting for a “comprehensive peace,” it would have delayed independence, leaned toward the Soviet side, distanced itself from the United States, and followed a completely different and unhappy fate.
Japan achieved great success by choosing the option opposite to what the Asahi Shimbun advocated.
This article continues.