This essay by Professor Nobuhiko Sakai exposes the hypocrisy of Japan’s SDGs reporting and reveals the deeper truth: the corruption attributed to capitalism is inseparable from the involvement of communist China. Using examples such as the Xinjiang cotton scandal, excessive clothing waste, food loss, and media silence on China’s human-rights abuses, Sakai urges Japanese newspapers to confront China—the world’s greatest SDGs violator—instead of indulging in empty slogans.

The media should pursue the true origin of the SDGs problem

June 17, 2024

As introduced in the June 13, 2021 Sankei Shimbun column by former University of Tokyo professor Sakai Nobuhiko, he argues that SDGs reporting in Japan fails to address the true root of the problem.
(The annotated notes are mine.)

The “Shitteru” column in the lifestyle section of the Sankei Shimbun covered the “used clothing business.”
According to the second installment on May 12, “Since 2016, the Sankei Shimbun has been engaged in the ‘Fukunowa Project,’ which supports disabled sports by donating used clothing as part of efforts to achieve the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).”
It adds that “70% of clothing unnecessary in Japan is discarded as burnable waste, and the low reuse rate has been pointed out.”

In the third installment on May 19, it stated that Japanese second-hand clothing is popular overseas because of its high quality, and “according to trade statistics from the Ministry of Finance, the amount of used clothing exported from Japan is about 241,000 tons, worth about 9.645 billion yen annually (five-year average),” and in the previous year it was exported to 60 countries.
The high quality stems from being used carefully, but also from being discarded readily.

In the “Let’s Learn with Sankei” column on the 23rd, the issue of “food loss” was covered, with a 2018 estimated figure of 6 million tons, again framed as an SDGs issue.
In the case of clothing, as with food, it should be recognized precisely as “waste,” and called “clothing loss.”

Today’s Japan enjoys extreme abundance in two of the three essentials of life—clothing and food—though not necessarily in housing.
Yet, the richer daily life becomes, the more diluted the sense of happiness becomes.
This is because everyday life has become overly affluent, though the quality is not necessarily high.

For clothing, producers excessively manufacture items simply because they sell, and consumers excessively buy them simply because they are cheap.
It is a vicious cycle of overproduction and overconsumption.
The ideal way is to produce quality goods in moderate quantities and use them carefully.

Today’s newspapers and media endlessly chant the praises of the SDGs.
However, collecting and exporting used clothing cannot possibly achieve the stated goals.
Recently, there has been a remarkably cheap criticism of capitalism, and indeed capitalism is undeniably ill.
However, as the Xinjiang cotton issue clearly shows, the corruption of capitalism involves the deep participation of “communist” China—an indisputable fact.

Beyond this issue, what has become of the scandals in major Japanese corporations accused of collusion with China?
I await follow-up reports from the newspapers.

And on every SDGs item, China is the world’s worst violator.
It is therefore the responsibility of newspapers—so enthusiastic about SDGs reporting—to criticize and pursue China, the principal offender.

Additional note:
TV Tokyo’s nighttime news programs were still better than the NHK or programs dominated by former host Ariyama, whom I had long criticized.
However, after they began prominently featuring Trauden Naomi—a Keio University student with academic parents—as a commentator on SDGs and decarbonization, I virtually stopped watching.
TV Tokyo and the Nikkei Shimbun appear unable to realize that she plays a role similar to Greta Thunberg in Japan, ultimately advancing China’s interests.
These media outlets are undeniably under significant Chinese influence.
They should read Professor Sakai’s essay and feel ashamed.

Sakai Nobuhiko:
Born in 1943 in Kawasaki.
Completed the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Humanities, the University of Tokyo.
Engaged in the compilation of Dai Nihon Shiryō at the Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo.