April 22 was a sunny day in Sapporo, capital of Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, where I appeared at the city’s District Court for the first oral argument in a defamation suit brought against me by a former journalist with the liberal mass circulation Asahi Shimbun. Courtroom 805 was filled with observers.

　　　　　I have written a series of articles criticizing Takashi Uemura for grossly fabricated stories he started writing in1991 about Korean “comfort women” and the “involvement” of the Japanese military with “comfort station” during World War II. He has sued me and the three publishing firms that carried my articles—Shincho-sha, WAC, and Diamond—claiming damages for defamation and demanding that we publish notes of apology.

　　　　　By merely reading what Uemura has written in the Asahi; one would fail to see the big picture of the basic stance towards coverage of the “Comfort Women” issue on the part of the left-leaning daily. Largely because of the daily’s fabricated reporting of this issue, Japan is now faced with a grossly unsubstantiated accusations that the imperial Japanese military abducted thousands of Korean women during the war, coerced them into sexual enslavement as “comfort women,” and eventually killed approximately 75% of them.

　　　　　In a new campaign against Japan, South Korea and China are spreading propaganda across North America, claiming that altogether 400,000 women—200,000 each from Korea and China—were tragically subjugated as “sex slaves.” No matter how one looks at it, the Asahi must be held accountable for this situation.

　　　　　At a news conference held at the court reporters’ club in Sapporo, a woman reporter with the liberal Hokkaido Shimbun persistently asked me why I criticize only the Asahi when conservative dailies like the Sankei and the Yomiuri have also made their share of mistakes in their “comfort women” coverage.

　　　　　The reason, I explained, is plain and simple: It was the Asahi who was without a doubt the initial source and primary driver of the distorted coverage. To what extent the daily’s fabricated coverage over the past three decades has exacerbated the misunderstandings and prejudices in the international community about the issue has been made amply clear by the findings of an independent six-member panel headed by Prof. emeritus Terumasa Nakanishi of Kyoto University.

　　　　　The Asahi had initially conducted its own review of its coverage of the subject, announcing in a series of special reports in its editions dated August 5 and 6, 2014, that it was withdrawing all of its articles referring to or quoting a self-styled former “comfort women” recruiter named Seiji Yoshida. Yoshida had later admitted that he had lied about coercively recruiting young Korean women for the Japanese military in Chejudo in 1945. However, the Asahi’s findings quickly attracted stern criticism for its shallow content devoid of any trace of earnest self-reflection, compelling the company to turn to a “third-party investigative committee” for further review.

Intentional Campaign

　　　　　Four month later, on December 11, 2014, this so-called “third-party committee” released its report, but it was also disappointing. Then in February of 2015, the truly independent panel, headed by Prof. Nakanishi of Kyoto University, which also including Prof. Tsutomu Nishioka, a renowned expert on the “comfort women” issue, published its own report.

　　　　　This report clearly showed that the Asahi was instrumental in leading a deliberate campaign to promote coverage of the “comfort women” issue at home and abroad. For instance, reviewing news coverage by three major Japanese dailies—the Asahi, the Mainichi, and the Yomiuri—as well as NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) over a five-year period from 1985 to 1989, the Nakanishi panel found the Asahi accounted for 74% of all of the “comfort women” reports. In 1990, its coverage rose to 77%. Without doubt, the Asahi was in the vanguard of “comfort women” coverage among major Japanese dailies.

　　　　　Uemura, who sued me for defamation in February of 2015, wrote his initial article about the “comfort women” in 1991, reporting on Ms. Kim Hak-sun as the first Korean woman to step forward as a “comfort woman.” Including this article by Uemura, the Asahi has since carried 150 articles concerning the “comfort women.” The Mainichi and the Yomiuri followed suit, increasing their coverage to reduce the Asahi’s share to 60% that year. Incidentally, NHK took steps that year, too, to launch its “comfort women” coverage, reporting on the subject in 13 programs.

　　　　　When it comes to a six-year period from 1985 to 1991, the Asahi occupied 63% of the total “comfort women” coverage among the three dailies. Although its share dropped to 42% in 1992 and to 41% in 1993, it still led the field.

　　　　　Because 60 out of the 150 articles the Asahi has run were filed by the Osaka branch where Uemura worked, with no foreign news or political news departments, the panel concluded that the zeal on the part of the Osaka branch “may be construed as reflecting the Asahi’s desire to commit itself to launching a campaign based on certain intentions.”

　　　　　The panel announced that the foreign media had been greatly influenced by the Asahi in their handling of the “comfort women” issue. Having scrutinized some 520 “comfort women” articles carried from 1980 to 2014by three major US dailies—The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times—one of the commission members, Prof. Yoichi Shimada of Fukui Prefectural University, concluded: “Without doubt, the Asahi’s ‘coercive recruitment propaganda of 1991’ has significantly influenced the US press.”

　　　　　Prof. Shimada is specifically referring to an article run by the Asahi in its January 11, 1992 edition, entitled: “Material Proving Military Involvement with Comfort Station Uncovered.” Explains Shimada:

　　　　　“These major US dailies started carrying articles of any significance about the ‘comfort women’ almost immediately after the Asahi carried that report…Before the Asahi published this fabrication, these American dailies had never bothered to carry such news, simply ignoring the ‘comfort women’ issue altogether.”

　　　　　In light of these facts, notes Shimada, the Asahi is clearly guilty, with Uemura having played an indispensable role in the whole scheme of things. Be that as it may, what brought the Asahi to engage in this form of “comfort women” coverage? I wish to recommend two excellent books that will provide a clue to this question: The Asahi Shimbun: Collapse of A Japanese-Style Organization by a group of concerned Asahi journalists (Bungei Shunju Ltd.; January 2015) and The Fall of the Asahi Shimbun by Hiroshi Hasegawa, who was formerly a journalist with the Asahi (WAC; December 2015). The reader will find the latter especially enlightening.

Pavlovian Dogs

　　　　　Hasegawa worked for the daily from 1961 until retirement in 1993, but continued to write for one of the company’s periodicals, the AERA weekly, as a contributor. But he quit AERA, disenchanted by the Asahi right after it carried the August 2014 special reports on its “comfort women” coverage. Then, in an effort to find out what caused the Asahi’s distorted reporting on the “comfort women” issue, Hasegawa decided to walk in the footsteps of the late Ms. Yayori Matsui (1934-2002), who had joined the daily the same year he had.

　　　　　While assigned to the Asahi’s Singapore regional office (1981-1985), Ms. Matsui filed a report charging that the Japanese army had massacred civilians in Malaysia during the last war. In November 1991, as part of his coverage in connection with a project marking the 50th anniversary of the start of the war in the Pacific, Hasegawa visited the Malaysian state of Negri Sembilan south of Kuala Lumpur—the spot where Ms. Matsui alleged the massacre by the Japanese military had taken place. There, Hasegawa heard a startling confession from a middle-aged Malaysian of Chinese ancestry, who told him:

　　　　　“A female Japanese journalist who said she was from the Asahi newspaper and that she was based in Singapore, told me: ‘Just say the massacre that happened in this town was committed by the Japanese military, and leave it at that. It doesn’t matter.’ And she said her name was ‘Matsui.’”

　　　　　Hasegawa says he was “terrified” to hear the remarks. Matsui was one of three organizers of an event entitled “the Women’s International War Crime Tribunal on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery,” held in Tokyo Dec. 8-12, 2000. All of the accused in this “tribunal” had long been dead, and there were no defense attorneys or witnesses present. The organizers of this project, in which the Showa Emperor (Emperor Hirohito; 1901-1989) was convicted under an environment that could hardly be recognized as an authentic international court, allegedly got the hint from a painting drawn by a former Korean ‘comfort women’ that shows “two revolvers pointed at a blindfolded emperor tied to a tree.”

　　　　　The Asahi vigorously reported on the project Matsui and her colleagues pushed. But why was a supposedly responsible major daily like the Asahi so intent on reporting on so nonsensical a trial? Diagnosing the fundamental posture of the Asahi’s reportage in general, Hasegawa writes: “I believe it is because there were many ‘Pavlovian dogs’ in-house at the daily—the type of individuals who weren’t much interested in pursuing the truth, could only think within a frame of mind that judges anything that has to do with the Japanese military as evil, and immediately regarding any accusations as the absolute truth in a typical Pavlovian conditional reflex.”

　　　　　I have a feeling that this litigation pitting me against Uemura—and the Asahi for that matter—will likely be a long fight. But I am determined to make this an opportunity to delve more deeply into the Asahi’s fundamental posture towards news coverage which has given rise to today’s complications involving the “comfort women” issue. I also wish to better understand how modern Japanese society has been distorted to allow for the creation of a newspaper like the Asahi.

(Translated from “Renaissance Japan” column no. 703 in the combined May 5-12, 2016 issue of The Weekly Shincho)