  Akahata's 77th anniversary: Efforts to report the truth -- Akahata editorial, February 1This year marks 77th anniversary of Akahata, which was first published on February 1, 1928. Unlike other commercial newspapers, Akahata does not declare "neutrality". It has been making efforts to report the other side of the story. When Japan was under a militarism which did not allow party-based politics, commercial newspapers sided with the policy of promoting the war of aggression under the cover of "neutrality". Akahata revealed the reality of the war of aggression and called for an end to it. Which of the two types of paper sticks to "reporting the truth" as the principle of journalism? War-supporting press On September 18, 1931, the Japanese Army blew up the railway train at Liutiaohu in China. It was a frame-up to put the false blame on Chinese forces and use this "Liutiaohu Incident" as a pretext for starting the invasion of Northeastern China. Akahata of October 5, 1931, reported that the charge was "false" and that the "true cause" of the war was the fact that "Japanese imperialism was preparing the war to pillage (Chinese) territories." Expanding on the military's false announcement, commercial newspapers carried articles full of hostility and prejudice against China. Tokyo-Nichinichi Shimbun (present Mainichi Shimbun) talked about, "devilish and brutal Chinese soldiers." This is not only because of the militarist government control of the press. Newspapers voluntarily stirred up war fever in order to increase their circulation. Yomiuri Shimbun increased its circulation seven times in 13 years, from 270 thousand copies in 1931 to 1.91 million in 1944. After WW II, Japanese journalism made a new beginning calling for peace, freedom, and democracy based on a reflection on the war of aggression. How have commercial papers reported on the recent issues such as the Iraq War and dispatches of the Self-Defense Forces abroad? The United States launched the war of aggression against Iraq on the false grounds that "Iraq had weapons of mass destruction." Some papers expressed "opposition" to the war, but many supported it by reporting, "Iraq is to blame" in line with the U.S. and Japanese governments' arguments. Taking the SDF dispatches for granted, Yomiuri Shimbun reported, "If Japan chooses its way based on a sentimental argument like 'antipathy towards war', it will lead the nation to live a fallacy." Many news organizations reported the Iraq War using embedded reporters. Watai Takeharu, a photo journalist who witnessed the embedded reporters' activities, said, "It was a 'Go! SDF' campaign, just like as the 'Go! Nippon' campaign during the Olympic Game. I thought that part of Japan's media was just doing public relations activities for the government. In other words, they were supporting the war with a PR campaign" (July 2004 edition of 'Keizai', an economic magazine). The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and business circles in Japan want to revise Article 9 of the Constitution in order to turn Japan into "a war-fighting nation" again. Yomiuri Shimbun encourages a constitutional revision by drafting a new constitution. Asahi Shimbun, despite being critical of Yomiuri's draft, also argued, "If the LDP really seeks a constitutional revision, it should give it more serious consideration (January 19 editorial)." On the issue of the consumption tax, most commercial papers are in favor of an increase in its rate. Make Akahata easier to read Akahata reports the Iraq War as a "war of aggression" based on facts and exposes how dangerous it is to revise the Constitution and how regressive and unfair the consumption tax is. It seriously pursues the way to inform people of the truth. But Akahata is not resigned to its present state. It tries to report more about the world and Japan as well as the Japanese Communist Party in an easier way, hoping to become more useful for people to understand politics and the economy and help develop people's livelihoods and movements. Building on its 77-year history, Akahata will rise to a new challenge to become familiar to more people. (end) |