A casual remark about “forced abductions” was not accidental. By examining the figures surrounding NHK’s watch9, this chapter exposes how media narratives shaped by Asahi Shimbun–style thinking influence political reporting and public perception.

2017-07-04

While watching the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election results on NHK, I saw Arima, the host of watch9, smiling side by side with Okoshi, a former host with a deeply problematic past.
At that moment, everything made sense to me.
Okoshi is from Niigata and a graduate of the University of Tokyo, where he belonged to the baseball club.
While serving as a host, he casually stated that “forced abductions were carried out.”
Naturally, this became an issue.
Kang Sang-jung, whom it would not be an exaggeration to call an agent of South Korea, is a man who graduated from Waseda University, studied in Germany, and became a University of Tokyo professor under a Korean quota.
Whenever he opens his mouth, he repeats phrases such as “Learn from Germany” and “Japan must not become a great power,” echoing South Korea’s long-standing “middle-power doctrine.”
Aside from that, he merely speaks incoherently while maintaining a gentlemanly facade.
When he repeated Asahi Shimbun talking points on a recent TBS program, Masayuki Takayama scolded him, saying, “When you quote Asahi Shimbun, say so explicitly.”
When NHK aired a dialogue with such a man, Okoshi expressed admiration, saying he was “deeply moved.”
That was the moment I gave up on Okoshi entirely.
This man does nothing for Japan.
It is likely that the current NHK president is also a University of Tokyo graduate, and through such academic cliques, Okoshi has returned to power and now controls the editorial direction of watch9.
Viewers must understand that today’s watch9 broadcasts are biased by individuals whose thinking is shaped by Asahi Shimbun editorials.
That bias, more than anything else, explains the tone of criticism toward the Abe administration and even the outcome of the Tokyo election.
Hence the unmistakable smiles seen during the election broadcast and again on the following day.