This chapter, drawn from a Hanada magazine dialogue between Masayuki Takayama and media watcher Masuki Daishi, exposes the contradictions of the Asahi Shimbun: demanding the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics while continuing as an official sponsor, opposing nuclear power while relying on nuclear-generated electricity, and imitating the editorial lines of foreign papers like The New York Times and Shimbun Akahata.
Takayama sharpens the critique with the ironic suggestion that Asahi should “cover its rooftop with Chinese-made solar panels and suspend publication when it rains,” if it truly believes in its own rhetoric.
The discussion also highlights Asahi’s political motivations tied to Japan’s Olympic legacy under Kishi and Abe, framing the newspaper as a symbol of ideological inconsistency.

Below is from the featured dialogue between Masayuki Takayama and Masuki Daishi, media watcher of Sekai Nippo, published on pages 196–202 of the current issue of the monthly magazine Hanada.
Not only the Japanese people but readers around the world must read this.
The Japanese people should immediately head to the nearest bookstore to purchase it.
For readers across the world, I will spread the truth as widely as I can.

A massive deficit since its founding.
Heaven’s punishment for Asahi, which refuses to apologize for fabricated articles.
“The Asahi Shimbun is truly evil”—it was worth saying it for so long!
A newspaper of total inconsistency.

Masuki:
In the May 26 editorial titled “Summer Tokyo Olympics: The Prime Minister Should Decide to Cancel,” Asahi demanded that the Olympics be canceled.
But Asahi is an “official partner,” that is, a sponsor that supports the Tokyo Olympics.
If you are a sponsor, the reasonable stance is to say, “Implement proper COVID-19 measures and hold the Games.”
And yet they suddenly say “Cancel it.”
I thought they would withdraw from sponsorship, but they keep that position.
What they say and what they do are completely different.
And yet Asahi believes it will be forgiven.
That arrogant attitude is exactly why they are disliked.

Takayama:
Reading through the editorial, its tone is exactly like The New York Times, The Washington Post, or the British paper The Times.
Editorial page editor-in-chief Nemoto Kiyoki and the others lack the intellectual capacity or academic discipline to think for themselves.
So when the American newspapers they worship adopt an anti-Olympic stance, they immediately imitate it.

Masuki:
The Japanese Communist Party’s paper Shimbun Akahata also seems to be something Asahi keeps an eye on.
When Akahata ran an article on May 13 calling for “the prime minister to decide to cancel the Olympics,” Asahi published an editorial with a remarkably similar headline.
Comparing the contents, Akahata wrote “The prime minister should decide to cancel,” and Asahi wrote “We demand that the prime minister decide to cancel.”
I see—Asahi truly is “red journalism,” and this reaffirmed that impression.

Takayama:
If Asahi is going to call for the Olympic cancellation, they should not only withdraw as sponsors but also declare that they will not report on the Games at all.
Yet their sports pages calmly publish articles about Japanese records being set and momentum building toward the Olympics.
That is absurd.
Asahi also continues to argue against the restart of nuclear power plants.
If they truly oppose it, the company should demonstrate its stance by refusing to use electricity generated by nuclear power.
With Asahi’s abundant financial resources, they could cover their rooftop with Chinese-made solar panels.
If it rains for several days and they face a power shortage, they could suspend publication.
If they showed such unwavering resolve, we might accept their argument.

Masuki:
I agree completely.
If Japan cannot hold the Olympics, the nation will be humiliated before the world.
The highly successful 1964 Tokyo Olympics were secured under Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi.
For Asahi, he was the arch-enemy of the 1960 Anpo struggle.
And today his grandson, Shinzo Abe.
They seek “Japan’s downfall” as payback.
That is their true aim, isn’t it?

Takayama:
It’s hopeless.
To be continued.