This article explains why Shintaro Ishihara’s remarks were entirely reasonable for the head of a vast organization like Tokyo.
It contrasts the competence of Tokyo’s bureaucracy with the ignorance and structural weakness of Japan’s media.

March 4, 2017
Anyone with a sound mind who watched Shintaro Ishihara’s press conference could understand that, as the head of a massive organization equivalent to a nation, namely the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, he was stating nothing more than the obvious.
The GDP of Tokyo alone would certainly rank within the world’s top fifteen.
Yet it would not be an exaggeration to say that not a single one of the so-called reporters gathered there understood this obvious fact.
What, then, is the source of their abnormality?
As I reflected on this, I came to a realization.
People who live in the real world of business all know how capable the staff of Tokyo’s ward offices and metropolitan departments are.
I was reminded that even Osaka City Hall once enjoyed the same reputation.
There was a time when Osaka City Hall employees held extremely high pride.
For example, among graduates of Osaka University’s Faculty of Economics, the top two employment destinations were Sumitomo Bank and Osaka City Hall.
Needless to say, the same has long been true of Tokyo.
Yet those second-rate and foolish so-called reporters, particularly television stations, broadcast only Yuriko Koike day after day.
Not once have they aired the actual work or accomplishments of the metropolitan departments or their staff.
The late Tadao Umesao once said that television makes people worse, and he refused to appear on it.
Because they are truly foolish, because they are genuinely second-rate, they believe that Tokyo is an organization run by Koike.
They are convinced that Koike moves Tokyo.
The truth is exactly the opposite.
Even without Koike, Tokyo functions flawlessly.
Even without Koike, Tokyo continues to operate without error.
Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that Koike’s presence actually slows or obstructs Tokyo’s progress.
With or without Koike, Tokyo will continue to function as one of the world’s leading metropolises.
Why is that?
Because Tokyo has the most capable local government officials in Japan.
Because there are countless outstanding individuals in every department.
It is precisely the media that lack such capable people, and the people of Japan and the world must realize this immediately through this essay.
Of course, it goes without saying that the national government, which conducts diplomacy, defense, and economic policy externally, is an entirely different organization from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Likewise, the roles of governor and prime minister are fundamentally different.
Simply put, anyone can serve as governor, but the position of prime minister is by no means something anyone can fulfill.