The following is from Masayuki Takayama's book "Newspapers Lie Like Bigots," published on 12/15/2022.
This paper also proves that he is the one and only journalist in the postwar world.
A long time ago, an elderly female professor of the Royal Ballet School of Monaco, highly respected by prima ballerinas worldwide, visited Japan.
At that time, she spoke about the significance of an artist's existence.
She said, "Artists are important because they are the only ones who can shed light on hidden, concealed truths and express them."
No one would dispute her words.
It is no exaggeration to say that Masayuki Takayama is not only the one and only journalist in the postwar world but also the one and only artist in the postwar world.
On the other hand, Ōe, I don't want to speak ill of the deceased, but (to follow Masayuki Takayama's example below), Murakami and many others who call themselves writers or think of themselves as artists are not even worthy of the name of artists.
They have only expressed the lies the Asahi Shimbun and others created rather than shedding light on hidden truths and telling them.
Their existence is not limited to Japan but is the same in other countries worldwide.
In other words, there are only a few true artists.
This paper is another excellent proof that I am right when I say that no one in the world today deserves the Nobel Prize in Literature more than Masayuki Takayama.
It is a must-read not only for the people of Japan but for people all over the world.
What Newspapers Value More than Democracy
There are many things in this world that we do not understand.
In a recent newspaper, the Japan Newspaper Publishers Association reported, "All major industrialized countries either do not levy consumption taxes on newspapers or reduce them. Japan should follow suit."
The prime minister has not officially announced the consumption tax hike, nor has the Diet approved it.
Hideo Tamura of the Sankei Shimbun cites the example of the stagnant economy in the U.K. after raising the consumption tax. Still, the Ministry of Finance is unable to provide an accurate rebuttal.
But the newspaper says that raising the consumption tax rate is a done deal.
The first thing we need to understand is the nerve of the newspapers.
The article goes on to explain why the "Study Group on the Public Nature of Newspapers," which was consulted by the chairman of the Newspaper Publishers Association of Japan, believes that a consumption tax is inappropriate for newspapers.
It says that newspapers are necessary for democracy, "accurately and promptly conveying news and information occurring daily inside and outside the country.
I don't understand this either.
In my experience as a newspaper reporter in the past, "someone's convenience'' always took precedence over democracy.
As a reporter in the society section, I visited the former Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Yurakucho.
The staircase of the government building designed by Kenzo Tange was frustratingly slow, and it wasn't easy to reach the next step with one step.
It is said that Governor Shunichi Suzuki, who has short legs, finally became so annoyed that he decided to move the government building.
When I tried to go up the staircase, I found it full of people sitting on the floor.
The press club was on the third floor but filled with people sitting even higher up.
When I asked my seniors what was happening, they told me that the Liberation League had been sitting on all the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building staircases for weeks, asking Governor Minobe to "give us a liberated area."
They demanded "the entire two wards of Sumida and Arakawa."
We only have to suffer a minor inconvenience in walking around the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, but the department in charge of negotiations has a tough time.
They throw ashtrays at them when they don't like what they see.
No, it's a light aluminum ashtray.
They would make it fly like a Frisbee.
But a direct hit is quite a shock, and I heard that one section chief had two more glasses broken.
There was an exchange about things like, "That's a silly story. Why don't you write about it?" "Can we write such a thing?''
The Asahi Shimbun reported that the smoke screen set up during the New Wall River crossing operation in central China was poison gas.
When I wrote that it was a lie, Mr. Satake, the head of the department of Asahi, shouted at me that he would destroy Sankei.
I almost destroyed the Sankei Shimbun because of me.
Asahi and the Liberation League were not the only untouchable gods.
When I wrote about the doctrine of Ayatollah Khomeini on toilet etiquette in Iran, I was ordered to appear before the court and stripped of my reporter's status.
When I was transferred to the U.S., a U.S. government agency blackmailed Mitsubishi Motors, claiming that the company had engaged in sexual harassment.
It was a blatant lie, but NHK and Asahi refused to report the truth for fear of offending the U.S., finally abandoning Mitsubishi.
None of the examples given to the right was reported "accurately and promptly" by any newspapers.
Yet, the study group continues, "newspapers offer a wide variety of opinions and commentary," and "their role in the recent earthquake and tsunami is clear."
Therefore, it concludes newspapers should be exempted from the consumption tax.
The study group was advised by former Asahi Shimbun chairman Koutaro Akiyama, who was also a study group member.
If that is the case, we would like to ask Koutaro's newspaper what it did in the aftermath of the recent disaster.
What exactly did they do in the wake of the recent disaster?
While all the newspapers were calling for donations to help the afflicted areas, the Asahi Shimbun used this to expand sales by saying, "We will print your name on the front page of our paper if you donate."
Insolence that takes advantage of other people's misfortune is genuinely the devil of the human world.
The coverage of the nuclear power plant was even worse.
From the very beginning, Koutaro has taken an anti-nuclear line.
He has shut out any "diverse opinions" that nuclear power plants are safe and necessary.
He even withheld the fact that GE of the United States actually manufactured the broken nuclear reactor.
The other day, Oh Sonfa was denied entry into Korea.
She is a Japanese national, but here, as in the case of the abductions, Koutaro abandoned the Japanese national, Oh Sonfa, and did not even report the incident.
The Asahi Shimbun was neither as accurate nor prompt in its reporting as other newspapers.
Nor does it carry "a wide variety of opinions and commentary."
The consumption tax will go up sooner or later.
Other newspapers notwithstanding, Asahi is the only one that does not qualify, so it should not be exempted this time.
(October 3, 2013 issue)
