Sakai Nobuhiko’s article sharply criticizes the Asahi Shimbun’s massive coverage of the Pope’s visit to Japan from the viewpoints of Japan-guilt historical views, anti-nuclear ideology, anti-nuclear-power sentiment, and deference to China.
It questions Asahi’s stance in not addressing the Pope’s silence on the Hong Kong protests and Uyghur repression, while also ignoring his remark that he “loves China.”

March 15, 2020
It is probably not unrelated to the fact that Italy is now in a disastrous situation.
No, is it not no exaggeration to say that he himself bears the greatest responsibility?

The following is an article I have just found on the internet.
Since I stopped subscribing to the Asahi Shimbun six years ago in August, I knew nothing about it at all, but through Mr. Sakai’s article, I learned the reality, the mechanism, behind the Pope’s visit to Japan, and was astonished.
There is no way to describe the Asahi Shimbun other than to say that it has gone mad.
What I felt the other day when I happened to look at Weekly Asahi was correct after all.
Even so, what on earth is a Pope who was carried by such a group of madmen?
It is probably not unrelated to the fact that Italy is now in a disastrous situation.
No, is it not no exaggeration to say that he himself bears the greatest responsibility?

The Reason for the “Massive Coverage” of the Pope’s Visit to Japan
Deference to China?
No Mention of the Hong Kong Protests or Uyghur Repression…

The Pope, who stands at the top of the Christian Catholic Church, visited Japan from November 23 to 26.
As stated in the “Ichikara Wakaru” column on page two of the Asahi Shimbun morning edition of the 18th, this visit was something that the Catholic Church in Japan had continued to request.
Regarding the schedule in Japan, the same column explained, “He will visit Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the atomic-bombed cities, and issue an appeal calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons. In Tokyo, he will meet Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress and Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, and will also meet evacuees from the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.”
It seems that the main theme was a “warning against the use of nuclear energy,” including not only nuclear weapons but also nuclear power plants.
The Asahi Shimbun developed massive coverage in advance of this visit, and the number of articles was extraordinary.
In particular, there was a succession of large articles using most of a page, such as “A Thought That Acts Toward the ‘Margins’ of Society” in the morning edition of the 17th, “A Message from Nagasaki” in the morning edition of the 18th, “The Pope to Visit Atomic-Bombed Cities for the First Time in 38 Years” in the morning edition of the 19th, and “A Step Toward ‘Forgiveness’” in the morning edition of the 20th.
Reading this series of articles, I felt that the Catholic Church in Japan and the Asahi Shimbun stand on almost the same view, both on the issue of historical perception and on the issue of nuclear matters.
Their historical perception seems to be a view of history that regards Japan as sinful, and they reject not only nuclear weapons, of course, but also nuclear power plants, which are a peaceful use of nuclear energy, under the slogan of “abandoning nuclear power.”
That is surely why the Asahi Shimbun gave the Pope’s visit such massive coverage.
The Asahi Shimbun quoted the Pope’s words opposing nuclear weapons and repeatedly criticized Japan in its articles for being under the United States’ nuclear umbrella and not signing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
However, in the present situation in which Japan faces the “nuclear threat” of China and North Korea, the nuclear umbrella is absolutely necessary.
The Asahi Shimbun absolutely refuses to look at this reality.
During this visit to Japan, the Pope stated various beautiful words on broad themes such as the abolition of the death penalty.
However, I have not come across any report that he spoke about the democratic movement in Hong Kong or the repression in China’s Uyghur region, grave issues involving human rights and human lives that are actually occurring in Asia.
Could this not be deference to China?
Regarding Hong Kong and the Uyghurs, the Sankei Shimbun has taken them up many times, and on November 28 it carried a Kyodo News dispatch stating that the Pope said on the plane home, “I want to go to Beijing. I love China.”
The Asahi Shimbun has remained silent about this statement by the Pope.
In the editorial afterthoughts column of the morning edition of December 1, editorial writer Go Fusako stated, “I think the greatest power held by the head of the Vatican, which has neither an army nor factories, is morality,” and “Facing the ultimate morality of ‘peace,’ he went around openly preaching proper assertions without deferring to anyone.”
To me, this felt like clear fake news, completely different from the truth.

Sakai Nobuhiko
Former professor at the University of Tokyo.
Born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1943.
In March 1970, he completed the master’s course at the Graduate School of Humanities, the University of Tokyo.
In April of the same year, he began working at the Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo, where he engaged in the compilation of Dai Nihon Shiryo, Series 11 and Series 10, while also conducting research mainly on ethnic issues in Asia.
He retired at the mandatory retirement age in March 2006.
He currently writes articles and columns for newspapers and monthly magazines.
His books include The Asahi Shimbun, Mad with Anti-Japanese Hypocrisy, published by Nisshin Hodo.