Published on January 28, 2020. This article examines the Asahi Shimbun’s front-page report asserting that the government would appeal the Hansen’s disease family lawsuit ruling, only for the opposite result—no appeal—to be reported the very next day. It criticizes the case as a major false report and irresponsible journalism that overturned any remaining trust in the newspaper as a traditional news medium.

January 28, 2020
However, this article was a major false report and irresponsible journalism that overturned all such perceptions.
The following is the continuation of the previous chapter.
A Major False Report of the Century
There is an even clearer example of the deterioration of the Asahi Shimbun’s pages.
Apart from my opposition to the Asahi Shimbun’s basic political stance, I had maintained a certain level of respect for it as a traditional news medium.
However, this article was a major false report and irresponsible journalism that overturned all such perceptions.
The content of that front-page lead article in the Asahi Shimbun was as follows.
First, the main headline.
“Government to Appeal Hansen’s Disease Family Lawsuit; Economic Support to Be Considered”
The opening of the article was as follows.
“Regarding the Kumamoto District Court ruling ordering the state to compensate the families of former Hansen’s disease patients, the government has decided on a policy of appealing and fighting the case in the High Court.”
The subject was a lawsuit filed by 561 family members of former Hansen’s disease patients, who had suffered discrimination under the state’s isolation policy toward Hansen’s disease patients and had experienced harm such as the breakup of families, demanding damages and an apology from the state.
On June 28, the Kumamoto District Court, which heard the case, recognized the responsibility of the state and handed down a ruling requiring it to pay more than 370 million yen in compensation to the families.
In response, attention focused on how the state, that is, the Japanese government, would respond, and whether it would appeal and fight the case in the High Court.
Under these circumstances, the Asahi Shimbun reported that the state had decided to appeal on the grounds that the ruling was unjust.
Moreover, it did so in an extremely strong tone, as a clear assertion that seemed to leave no room for doubt.
However, in the morning edition of the Asahi on July 10, the next day, an article with content completely opposite to that of the previous day was once again published prominently on the front page.
The headline was as follows.
“No Appeal in Hansen’s Disease Family Lawsuit; Prime Minister Takes Human Rights Violations into Consideration”
The opening of the article was as follows.
“Regarding the Kumamoto District Court ruling ordering the state to compensate the families of Hansen’s disease patients, the government decided on the 9th on a policy of not appealing.”
In other words, “the government has decided on a policy of appealing and fighting the case in the High Court” turned overnight into “the government decided on a policy of not appealing.”
It was a complete false report.
This article continues.