When I found out that the Asahi Shimbun had fabricated the article on Article 9, I felt a surge of emotion similar to anger, thinking that this was nothing but an affront to journalism.
October 17, 2019
It is true that the Asahi Shimbun's reporting has strained relations with neighboring countries and significantly damaged Japan's reputation in the world. I published this chapter on 2018-06-27.
The following is a continuation of the previous chapter.
Emphasis in the text other than the headline is mine.
The disease of "anti-Japan"
I have been a reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun for over 20 years and have long had strong doubts about the Asahi Shimbun's reporting stance, which prioritizes ideology over facts.
When I found out that the Asahi Shimbun had fabricated the article on Article 9, I felt a surge of emotion similar to anger, thinking that this was nothing but an affront to journalism.
At the same time, I also wondered if there was a 'mental illness' such as a narcissistic personality disorder behind the newspaper company's systematic fabrication of articles.
Why do they fabricate things? Or rather, why are they able to fabricate things?
When I thought about it, I remembered something a German historian once said about "researching history through psychology."
The idea of psychoanalyzing the Japanese left, including the Asahi Shimbun and progressive intellectuals, led me to write "The Disease of 'Anti-Japanese' - Unraveling the Brainwashing of the Japanese by SCAP and the Media" (Gentosha).
Japanese conservatives have criticized the Asahi Shimbun as "self-deprecating."
It is true that, as a Japanese media outlet, it is not surprising that it is perceived that way when it is focused on reporting that harms the national interest.
However, I thought that, paradoxically, it may have more "narcissism" than any other organization.
In other words, I hypothesized that the Asahi Shimbun's sense of self-defense, the belief that they are "good Japanese" and different from "bad Japanese" who do not reflect on their wartime past, and worldview of rewarding good and punishing evil drove them to fabricate things.
*When I read this hypothesis, I immediately thought that the mental structure of Tsujimoto Kiyomi, an arrested criminal who NHK broadcasts so much for some reason, makes sense if you think about it this way.*
When I asked a psychiatrist about this hypothesis, he said, "It's true that the Asahi Shimbun has a lot in common with narcissistic personality disorder."
The symptoms can be described as "the disease of 'anti-Japan.'"
Everyone has narcissism, but if it becomes too big, it will eventually cause friction with those around you.
In the case of the Asahi Shimbun, excessive narcissism has caused friction with Japanese society and Japanese people.
The worst example is their reporting on comfort women.
Instead of writing articles based on the facts gathered, the Asahi Shimbun has continued to write articles based on Yoshida Seiji's lies for many years.
Because it starts with a lie, whatever they write will only be fiction.
The reporting on the Nanjing Massacre and the textbook issue were likely the result of excessive narcissism, but the Asahi Shimbun's reporting soured relations with neighboring countries and severely damaged Japan's reputation in the world.
To be continued.
October 17, 2019
It is true that the Asahi Shimbun's reporting has strained relations with neighboring countries and significantly damaged Japan's reputation in the world. I published this chapter on 2018-06-27.
The following is a continuation of the previous chapter.
Emphasis in the text other than the headline is mine.
The disease of "anti-Japan"
I have been a reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun for over 20 years and have long had strong doubts about the Asahi Shimbun's reporting stance, which prioritizes ideology over facts.
When I found out that the Asahi Shimbun had fabricated the article on Article 9, I felt a surge of emotion similar to anger, thinking that this was nothing but an affront to journalism.
At the same time, I also wondered if there was a 'mental illness' such as a narcissistic personality disorder behind the newspaper company's systematic fabrication of articles.
Why do they fabricate things? Or rather, why are they able to fabricate things?
When I thought about it, I remembered something a German historian once said about "researching history through psychology."
The idea of psychoanalyzing the Japanese left, including the Asahi Shimbun and progressive intellectuals, led me to write "The Disease of 'Anti-Japanese' - Unraveling the Brainwashing of the Japanese by SCAP and the Media" (Gentosha).
Japanese conservatives have criticized the Asahi Shimbun as "self-deprecating."
It is true that, as a Japanese media outlet, it is not surprising that it is perceived that way when it is focused on reporting that harms the national interest.
However, I thought that, paradoxically, it may have more "narcissism" than any other organization.
In other words, I hypothesized that the Asahi Shimbun's sense of self-defense, the belief that they are "good Japanese" and different from "bad Japanese" who do not reflect on their wartime past, and worldview of rewarding good and punishing evil drove them to fabricate things.
*When I read this hypothesis, I immediately thought that the mental structure of Tsujimoto Kiyomi, an arrested criminal who NHK broadcasts so much for some reason, makes sense if you think about it this way.*
When I asked a psychiatrist about this hypothesis, he said, "It's true that the Asahi Shimbun has a lot in common with narcissistic personality disorder."
The symptoms can be described as "the disease of 'anti-Japan.'"
Everyone has narcissism, but if it becomes too big, it will eventually cause friction with those around you.
In the case of the Asahi Shimbun, excessive narcissism has caused friction with Japanese society and Japanese people.
The worst example is their reporting on comfort women.
Instead of writing articles based on the facts gathered, the Asahi Shimbun has continued to write articles based on Yoshida Seiji's lies for many years.
Because it starts with a lie, whatever they write will only be fiction.
The reporting on the Nanjing Massacre and the textbook issue were likely the result of excessive narcissism, but the Asahi Shimbun's reporting soured relations with neighboring countries and severely damaged Japan's reputation in the world.
To be continued.
