Observations from the streets of Kyoto and Osaka lead to reflections on historical ties between Japan and the Korean Peninsula, linguistic presence among tourists, and the role of information agencies.
By connecting media elites, overseas institutions, and subtle human dynamics, this essay reveals realities that emerge only when one looks quietly and carefully.

Silent Landscapes That Come into View — Kyoto, Identity, and Information Operations
2017-02-13

As previously stated, Kyoto is my own garden.
Tourists from abroad also flood into Osaka.
I overwhelmingly encounter people speaking Chinese—whether from China, Taiwan, or Hong Kong.
In comparison, I feel that encounters with people speaking Korean are fewer than even the official statistics of visitors to Japan would suggest.
The other day, while riding the subway, I saw two young women sitting in front of me.
One clearly had the demeanor of a Korean woman, while the petite woman beside her looked entirely Japanese in appearance; yet the movements of her mouth as she spoke Korean revealed that she too was fully Korean.
As I watched this scene, I recalled the words of a man with whom I had become acquainted through work and with whom I maintained a close relationship.
He was a man who had failed the entrance exam to Kyoto University’s Faculty of Agriculture and went on to study at Waseda University.
He told me that there are, in fact, quite a number of people on the Korean Peninsula who carry Japanese blood.
This is because people remained there due to the existence of Mimana and events such as the Battle of Baekgang, he said.
As already noted, Asahi Shimbun editorial writers studied in turn at Yonsei University without the Japanese public knowing anything about it.
It is also already noted that South Korea is, in essence, a nation of Nazism, continuing anti-Japan education.
The existence of a powerful organization akin to the CIA—something Japan does not have—and the undeniable fact that it once brazenly abducted Kim Dae-jung in broad daylight while he was staying in Tokyo, are well-established facts.
Until three years ago in August, the Asahi Shimbun was a newspaper that dominated Japan.
To think that the Korean CIA would not take notice of such people would only prove that one has no sense of perspective at all.
This world is made up of men and women.
To consider how to exploit this fact is an elementary tactic of intelligence agencies.
When one thinks along these lines, there are landscapes that quietly come into view.
To be continued.