The shocking Kobe massacre, almost beyond belief for the Japanese, exposes the grave consequences of Japan’s irresponsible politics and media. This article reflects on how lax naturalization policies and the failure of politicians, mainstream media, and academics led to the tragedy. It also emphasizes the vital role of true journalism, invoking Masayuki Takayama’s work as an example of shedding light on hidden truths ignored by Japan’s old media.

As a memorandum, I dictated into my phone through Siri the things I had recently been feeling with growing anger as matters that could no longer be overlooked.
In the past few days, I had felt exhausted from typing on the keyboard and staring at the PC screen.

The first draft was about the unbelievable murder case that recently occurred in Kobe.
Many Japanese, myself included, must have felt from the start that the man named Tanimoto, a Tokyo resident, could not possibly be a genuine Japanese.

Some time ago, an elderly female professor from the Royal Ballet School of Monaco, deeply respected by primas across the world, visited Japan.
At that time, she spoke about the significance of artists:
“Artists matter because they are the only ones who can shed light on hidden, concealed truths and give them expression.”
There is hardly anyone who would object to her words.
Masayuki Takayama is not only a one-of-a-kind journalist in the postwar world but also, without exaggeration, a one-of-a-kind artist.
This is the familiar preface I use when introducing Takayama’s essays to the world.
Needless to say, journalists even more than artists are those who must shed light on hidden truths and report them.
Today, in Japan’s old media, it is no exaggeration to say that not a single true journalist remains.

Today, as I began to recover from the fatigue mentioned at the beginning, I once again published a “Best 50” series for the first time in a while.
I had planned to finish completely before Ohtani’s game began.
But regarding the aforementioned Tanimoto, what many Japanese citizens, including myself, had immediately sensed turned out to be right, and it appeared on X.
I ended up having to half-watch Ohtani’s game while following it.

That man turned out to be Chinese.
He had been naturalized as a Japanese about ten years ago.
As Mr. Sekihei has repeatedly pointed out, the looseness of Japan’s naturalization procedures is an international disgrace and the lowest standard for a state.
Because of such folly and irresponsibility, a young woman—gifted, promising, and at a time when Japan is facing a population decline—was brutally murdered in an unbelievable manner.

The fundamental solution to the declining birthrate is actually a problem that even an elementary school student could solve.
Yet instead, politicians, major media, and so-called scholars equated “declining birthrate = population decrease” with promoting immigration.
As with the assassination of Mr. Abe, the young talented woman in Kobe became a victim of their incompetence, folly, and irresponsibility.