When I saw the tweets of an Asahi Shimbun reporter that had been sent to me by the Seiron editorial department, I was dumbfounded.
＊I, seeing them for the first time, and readers encountering them for the first time as well, must have been equally dumbfounded.＊
May 2, 2018
The following is from a special feature titled "The Dubious Nature of the 'Abe as Villain' Theory," published in yesterday’s issue of the monthly magazine Seiron.
As readers know, since I canceled my subscription to the Asahi Shimbun, I had been completely unaware that the paper was publishing a series of articles like those described below.
Readers are also aware that my assessments of public figures—based on intuition gleaned from their facial features, demeanor, and so forth—have, as exemplified most recently by the case of Governor Ryuichi Yoneyama of Niigata Prefecture, been almost 100% accurate.
Speaking now of the face and demeanor of Hiroshi Samejima, Deputy Editor of the Special Reporting Department, whom I learned about for the first time through this article:
If Japan had organizations like the CIA or FBI, and if I were the director, I would, without hesitation, be investigating this individual’s possible contacts with agents from the Korean Peninsula or China.
This article gave me the same shock I felt years ago when, while watching Hōdō Station on TV Asahi, I saw announcer Ichiro Furutachi gleefully introduce “Mr. Ri Chisong, Deputy Foreign News Editor.”
At the same time, this article reinforced my conviction that if the totalitarian regimes of China and the Korean Peninsula were ever to collapse and their covert operational records were to be exposed, it would become clear that countless agents had been embedded within institutions like the Asahi Shimbun.
All emphasis within the text, aside from the headlines, is mine.
Exposing the Tweets of an Asahi Shimbun Reporter Calling for the Overthrow of the Cabinet
By Mizuho Ishikawa, Guest Editorial Writer for Sankei Shimbun
A Torrent of Curse-Like Words
When I saw the tweets from an Asahi Shimbun reporter that had been sent to me by the Seiron editorial department, I was utterly dumbfounded.
＊I, seeing them for the first time, and readers encountering them for the first time as well, must have been equally dumbfounded.＊
There, in harsh and aggressive language, were tweets practically cursing the Abe administration.
The author of these tweets was Hiroshi Samejima, Deputy Editor of the Special Reporting Department, who had previously uncovered problems such as shoddy decontamination efforts related to the nuclear accident and won the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association Award for the series "The Trap of Prometheus."
＊Who could possibly deny that this anti-nuclear reporting was perfectly aligned with the interests of China and the Korean Peninsula, which seek to destroy Japan’s nuclear technology?
Furthermore, it is well known that the series itself included fabricated reporting regarding the Yoshida testimony, and that awards like the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association Award are effectively manipulated by the Asahi Shimbun, which holds considerable influence.＊
While tweets are not the same as printed articles, considering that they were disseminated by an editorial executive in a position of responsibility within the Asahi Shimbun, they cannot simply be overlooked.
Samejima’s tweets starkly revealed the Asahi Shimbun's corporate culture of making "Abe-bashing" its raison d'être.
It is common knowledge that the Asahi Shimbun was the first to report, on March 2, on the Finance Ministry’s alleged document tampering related to the Moritomo Gakuen scandal, which then erupted into a major political issue in the Diet.
Immediately after this, Samejima tweeted:
"At this point, we have no choice but to suspect that everything the Abe administration publishes is a falsified document." (March 2)
And further:
"There is no end to the reasons why the Cabinet should resign: favoritism towards friends, false testimony, cover-up of rape, incitement of hate, data fabrication... countless scandals have been swept under the rug until now.
No administration has so thoroughly privatized power and deviated from the principles that politics must uphold.
The Moritomo Gakuen document falsification scandal is the ultimate outcome." (March 4)
The references to "rape cover-up" and "incitement of hate" are unclear, but it is evident from these statements that he was already hinting at the Cabinet’s resignation and eagerly anticipating the collapse of the administration.
In a March 7 tweet, Samejima wrote:
"I don't consider those who were promoted under the Abe administration to be good people.
They merely flattered those in power and lied.
I don't consider those arrested by prosecutors under Abe’s administration to be bad people either.
They were simply people who protested the tyranny of power and were targeted.
From now on, résumés for public officials and criminal records must include annotations like (during the Abe administration)."
The "people arrested by prosecutors" probably refers to Yasunori Kagoike, former chairman of Moritomo Gakuen, who was indicted for fraud and was being held in custody.
After the contents of the pre-altered documents became public, Samejima's tweets increasingly pressed for Akie Abe, the Prime Minister’s wife, to be summoned as a sworn witness.
For example, he tweeted:
"When the ruling party finally hands Abe the pink slip, they will say, 'We have no choice but to summon Mrs. Akie Abe as a witness.'
That’s when Prime Minister Abe will finally resign himself.
The best strategy to force Abe’s resignation is to stir up public demand for Mrs. Akie’s sworn testimony.
Even foreign media are reporting it as 'the Abe couple's scandal.'
Mrs. Akie Abe is the very symbol of crony politics under Abe." (March 12)
And again:
"No matter how much we blame the bureaucrats, Prime Minister Abe will simply shift the blame downward, cut off the tail, and escape.
However, there is one person Abe cannot blame: Mrs. Akie Abe.
To force the Cabinet into mass resignation, we must target her.
Summon her as a sworn witness." (March 14)
Since last year, his stance has been perfectly aligned with that of the Asahi Shimbun’s editorials, which have repeatedly demanded the summoning of Mrs. Akie Abe to testify in the Diet.
In a tweet dated March 16, Samejima wrote:"In the weekend public opinion polls, the must-ask question is: 'Do you believe Prime Minister Abe’s statement that “my wife was not involved”?'
If a majority answers 'No,' Abe would have to resign immediately.
A Prime Minister whom more than half the nation believes to be a liar is simply untenable."
In fact, in the public opinion survey conducted by the Asahi Shimbun on March 17 and 18, they posed almost the exact same question.
The results showed that 72% of respondents said they "could not accept" the Prime Minister’s explanation, and 65% said that "Mrs. Akie Abe needs to testify in the Diet."
Samejima’s tweets laid bare the Asahi Shimbun’s strategy.
