"Japan Has Become a Criminal": Masayoshi Son’s Disgraceful Remark at the Global Green Growth Summit
August 10, 2018
The following is a chapter originally published on April 17, 2018. It was written and transmitted from my hospital room, where I was hospitalized for seven months with a critical illness, having been told my chance of survival was only 25%. I now call upon both Japanese and international readers to revisit this text with fresh eyes.
In the original, I used a pen name to which I held deep emotional attachment. Unfortunately, a criminal—possessing the DNA of “unfathomable evil” and “plausible lies” typical of a certain nation—mounted a coordinated attack on Google search results using reverse SEO techniques. This included creating over 30 false accounts, attaching defamatory content to my blog "The Turntable of Civilization", and manipulating rankings through illegal means. As a result, what had once returned over 20 million legitimate hits was overtaken by slanderous junk across the first ten pages of results.
Though our firm’s lawyer advised criminal prosecution for obstruction of business, defamation, and malicious falsehood, it took nearly three years before the Osaka District Prosecutors Office reviewed the case. Despite the accused fully admitting guilt, the case was not prosecuted—an outcome I suspect would have been different had I been a public figure.
One unforgettable quote marked the beginning of this spiral:
On June 20, 2011, at the Global Green Growth Summit held at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Masayoshi Son stated during his keynote speech:
"Japan has become a criminal."
This, from a man representing a Japanese company, speaking in a nation that, post-Fukushima, continued to push forward both its domestic and international nuclear energy policies.
In that instant, I was struck by a haunting parallel: the same ideological defeatism that gripped postwar Japan.
“To the People of Japan: A Nation Without Pride Will Perish” – Naoki Komuro
Masayoshi Son should read that book—immediately. And any prime minister who is swayed by such individuals should be dismissed without delay. These are traitors of a rare breed in our nation’s history.
Excerpt from the book Bureaucrats Who Betray the Nation (p. 202):
Anti-Nuclear Groups, Korean Corporations, and SoftBank
With the scale of disaster and reconstruction exceeding expectations, both the public and private sectors began rebuilding. Amid this, the Renewable Energy Foundation was established.
According to its website, the foundation was created to promote a shift toward renewable energy. But what kind of organization is it, really?
A glance at its leadership reveals that its founder and chair is none other than Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank, and among the board members is composer Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Masayoshi Son, who at that same summit in Seoul declared “Japan has become a criminal,” and Ryuichi Sakamoto, who infamously stated “It’s just electricity” at an anti-nuclear rally—both names appear prominently.
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Chair and Founder: Masayoshi Son, CEO, SoftBank Corp.
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Board Member: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Representative of “More Trees” (according to the Renewable Energy Foundation homepage)
Sakamoto’s anti-nuclear activism is widely known. That Son would appoint him to the board underscores his strong anti-nuclear stance.
But is Son’s opposition to nuclear power truly based on principle?
After all, while proclaiming that "Japan is a criminal," he went on to praise South Korea’s nuclear program.
During the summit in Seoul, Son apologized for the damage Japan’s nuclear accident caused to neighboring countries, declaring Japan a criminal nation. And yet, during a courtesy visit to then-President Lee Myung-bak, he reportedly stated:
“Nuclear phaseout is an issue for Japan. I highly regard Korea’s nuclear power.”
In Japan, he condemns nuclear energy. In Korea, he praises it.
If this isn’t double-dealing of the worst kind, what is?
(Source: FLASH, August 4, 2011)
