San Francisco Examiner May 1997
Brain Food Poisoning
Takesato Watanabe
Many outsiders wonder why Japanese citizens, some of the best-read people
of the world, still seem to be insular and out-of-step with international
affairs apart from the realm of economics. One answer may be found in what
exactly it is we Japanese are reading.
Two of Japanese major publishers -- Shinchosha and Bungei Shunju -- have
a long history of unethical journalistic conduct, which has been an important
factor shaping how Japanese citizens view their world. Bungei Shunju, in
particular, played an aggressive, leading role to fan the flames of Japanese
nationalism during World War II by filing misleading, rosy war dispatches
from the front lines.
Newspapers and magazines produced by these two publishing companies in recent
years have denied the fact that there were gas chambers at Auschwitz; systematically
downplayed the brutal Rape of Nanking at the hands of the Japanese military
during World War II; falsely accused an innocent man of the 1994 Matsumoto
Sarin gas attacks; abused the victims of industrial pollution in their coverage
of the Minamata disease; callously labeled plaintiffs in HIV suits as suit
profiteers; insulted women who were enslaved as prostitutes by the Japanese
Imperial Army during the Pacific War by describing their status as employees;
heaped racy slanders on Okinawa Governor Ota, who has opposed the government
Us stance on American military bases on the islands; and launched a series
of frenzied attacks on Daisaku Ikeda, the leader of the largest religious
minority in Japan.
I am sure that the editors of these magazines understand only too well the
ethics of healthy journalism, but have decided to dispense with these and
instead focus on sensationalism and a cockeyed view of the world in order
to boost sales. What us impermissible, however, is that the targets of these
reports are always the minority, represented by the victims of social wrongs
such as Minamata disease or military sex slavery. The magazines are therefore
flattering and currying favor with the majority in society at the expense
of the less privileged, which is, in a nutshell, behavior that is unfortunately
endemic to Japanese society.
And these magazines have no small impact. Their combined weekly and monthly
publications have a circulation of more than 3 million. Conspicuous advertisements
on metropolitan commuter trains blare the headlines of these magazines on
millions more who havenft even bothered to read the articles. These publications
are available in highly public places such as hospitals, banks and airplane,
since they are classified as serious sorts of magazines because they carry
few nude photographs. Japan, to many outsiders, remains an baffling place,
and this is partly because her citizens are so poorly informed. A recent
survey demonstrated that 87% of the Japanese public believes what they read
in newspapers. But many newspaper reports, and particularly the Shinchosha
and Bungei Shunju publications, are biased; fact-checking is not a priority;
bylines are a rarity; and quotes are most often unattributed.
What is needed is a more sophisticated readership: the Japanese need to develop
the ability to interpret the information the media provide rather than blindly
believing it. The reporting contained in Shinchosha and Bungei Shunju magazines
is like a poison which has deeply permeated the minds of large numbers of
people. However, unlike a physical poison which can be easily identified
and therefore cured, like food poisoning, the poison fomented by these magazines
works on the brain insidiously and cumulatively.
The media in Japan did not come into being on the foundation of a thorough
discussion and understanding of such matters as human rights, freedom of
the press, or freedom of speech. The spirit of criticism has never had the
chance to develop and thrive in Japanese society. This, I believe, is the
tragedy of modern Japan, and a condition which may only be corrected by speaking
out.
Takesato Watanabe is a professor of journalism at Doshisha University in
Kyoto, Japan.