May 28, 2016
The following is from Masayuki Takayama’s latest paperback, which I introduced yesterday.
Almost every chapter proves that he is the one and only journalist in the postwar world.
A Newspaper of Deception in an Age of Deception
When I went to vote in a national election, I was also handed a ballot for the ward mayoral election.
I think of myself as a Tokyo resident, but not as a resident of my ward.
If pressed, my awareness amounts to knowing that my car’s license plate says “Nerima” or “Adachi,” depending on which ward I live in.
It is curious how even the most luxurious car looks cheap with an “Adachi” license plate.
Since that is the extent of my awareness, I do not even know who the ward mayor is.
Above the ward mayor is the governor of Tokyo, and there is even a Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly that seems to have nothing else to do.
Looking at the list of candidates, I was surprised and thought, “Why not stop holding expensive elections and let the governor appoint them, as in the old days?”
I thought I could at least judge the candidates by their party affiliations, but they were all independents.
That could not be right.
I know from experience that Communist Party members invariably slip into such inconspicuous elections.
Choosing at random by rolling a pencil would be quite likely to please the Communist Party.
After voting, I asked my wife and daughter how they had distinguished among the “all-independent” candidates, and they said they had left it to chance.
When they asked how I had voted, I replied that I had abstained because I thought there was a fairly high probability of an undesirable outcome.
That question of being independent became an issue in the latest Chiba gubernatorial election.
Kensaku Morita, who won, had campaigned as an independent.
In fact, however, he was still a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.
The Asahi Shimbun reported that the “Association to File a Criminal Complaint Against Kensaku Morita,” composed of citizens, had filed a criminal complaint against Governor Morita.
I cannot see the difference between a Communist Party candidate calling himself an independent in the Setagaya ward mayoral election and LDP member Kensaku Morita doing so.
However, I was interested to see the Sankei Shimbun report that this “citizens’ group” consisted of “Social Democratic Party members of the Chiba Prefectural Assembly and others.”
In other words, it was a politically affiliated group.
Knowing that political affiliation would also explain the motive for the complaint, so why did the Asahi Shimbun describe it as “a gathering of citizens,” as though it were an “independent” organization?
Was it because describing it as affiliated with the Social Democratic Party would be inconvenient?
Is not Asahi itself, which fails to report facts and changes its principles to suit its convenience, a newspaper of deception in an age of deception?
May 28, 2016
At this point, readers should reflect.
My argument is fully substantiated by this brilliant essay by the one and only journalist in the world.
The following is a continuation of the preceding chapter.
The emphasis in the text is mine.
The people of Chiba Prefecture would want to know the true identity of the group slandering the governor they elected.
Why does Asahi conceal it?
Governor Morita faced a new complaint from this Social Democratic Party-affiliated group.
Specifically, he was criticized for having received donations from Takao Yasuda, chairman of Don Quijote.
Even ordinary people would probably know the claim that foreigners account for 95% of the pachinko industry.
However, ordinary people do not know that Don Quijote is run by Koreans residing in Japan.
Come to think of it, three people previously died in an arson attack at one of this company’s stores, and the company had not complied with the fire department’s instructions for improvements.
I thought there was something odd about the company, but Asahi did not report at the time that it was a company run by Koreans residing in Japan.
Giichi Tsunoda, formerly of the Social Democratic Party, had received money from a company affiliated with Chongryon.
When this came to light, he resigned as vice president of the House of Councillors.
Whether a company is run by Koreans residing in Japan is important information that can affect a politician’s political career.
One day, a Social Democratic Party-affiliated group close to Koreans residing in Japan revealed that the company was, in fact, a Zainichi company.
I do not understand why Asahi picked this up and wrote “Don Quijote, a Zainichi company,” as though it were common knowledge.
For example, when the newspapers reported under his Korean name on a Korean pastor residing in Japan who had assaulted female congregants in Kyoto, Asahi alone insisted on reporting the incident under a Japanese name nobody knew.
This newspaper continues to reject Japan’s rule over Korea.
A recent commentary in its pages included a view to the effect that “Having their Korean names taken away through the name-changing policy was the greatest humiliation for Koreans.”
Yet, while concealing the fact that Koreans changed their names out of admiration for Japan and calling it an outrage committed by Japan, this newspaper wants Koreans to use Japanese names in its own pages.
Is that not precisely the “humiliation” in question?
In a recent column, Yoshibumi Wakamiya discussed a story expressing hopes for falsely labeled meat and Ichiro Ozawa’s phrase “an age of deception.”
It is a fitting metaphor for a foolish former editorial writer, but is not Asahi, which fails to report facts and changes its principles to suit its convenience, itself a newspaper of deception in an age of deception?
(May 7–14, 2009 issue)