how does japanese media influence people’s perception of china?
2024-09-21
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our special correspondent in japan huang wenwei and our reporter ding yazhi
editor's note: an unexpected incident in the nhk international broadcasting news program has attracted widespread attention. a chinese employee blurted out "senkaku islands" as "diaoyu islands" in the news release without a script, and said "diaoyu islands are chinese territory". as the program was live, this content was broadcast in real time and lasted for about 20 seconds. nhk has decided to terminate the contract with the announcer, and kenji koda, the director in charge of nhk international broadcasting, resigned on september 10. as the incident fermented, the attitude of the japanese media towards china's reporting and its related practices in reporting on china's history and development status further aroused controversy. the public opinion survey on china released by the japanese cabinet office this year showed that more than 80% of japanese people "have no sense of closeness" or "relatively no sense of closeness" to china. many experts told the global times reporter that the japanese media played a role in fueling this. recently, the global times launched an investigation into this phenomenon to see how japanese media reports on china have profoundly affected the japanese people's perception of china.
there is a specific pattern in japanese media reporting on china
recently, in order to introduce china's popular culture to the japanese people, the global times' special correspondent in japan is communicating with japanese publishers about publishing a book introducing chinese buzzwords. in the process of dealing with the editors, the reporter found that they did not know much about china today. for example, they were almost completely unfamiliar with words such as "one belt, one road", "wechat", and "circle of friends" that are closely related to the lives of chinese people. in the reporter's manuscript, there are words "workers flock to guangdong", and the japanese editor asked incomprehensibly: "why go to guangdong?" this exposes their lack of understanding of china's achievements in reform and opening up and the current state of economic development. the editor admitted: "we can only see news such as japanese people being arrested in china on suspicion of espionage in our own media. so it is difficult for people to understand contemporary china."
according to the observations of the global times' special correspondent in japan over the years, there are some specific patterns and potential problems when japanese media reports on china's history or reality. these reports subtly influence the japanese people's perception of china.
every august, on the anniversary of the atomic bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki, japan, the japanese media will focus on reporting past wars, but the content focuses on the losses suffered by the country in the war and the suffering of the people, and rarely mentions the war disasters caused by japan to other countries. in particular, when reporting on topics related to the war of resistance against japanese aggression, japanese media usually show a certain sensitivity and choose to report in a cautious manner. for example, the words "nanjing massacre" are banned by the japan broadcasting association (nhk) and can only be called the "nanjing incident"; when reporting on the yasukuni shrine in english, japanese media also avoid using the translation of "war-related shrine". some right-wing media will also downplay japan's role in the war and even try to glorify the war of aggression. this kind of reporting has led to a deviation in the japanese people's understanding of history and deepened the public's misunderstanding and misinterpretation of history.
when reporting on china's political system and development, japanese media often focus on the differences between china's system and that of japan and western countries, and deliberately magnify issues such as human rights. this long-term negative and one-sided reporting model may infiltrate a negative impression of china in the minds of the people, forming a perception that china is "threatening" and "terrible", and creating an atmosphere of antipathy towards china.
when reporting on the chinese economy, the japanese media usually emphasizes china's rapid development and the challenges it poses to the japanese economy in a comparative way. in particular, in areas such as science and technology and manufacturing, china is considered a competitor to japan due to its rapid development, and this anxiety is often reflected in the media. this practice of over-exaggerating the competitive relationship has exacerbated the japanese people's anxiety about china's economic development, ignored the economic complementarity and cooperation potential between the two countries, and weakened the people's expectations for sino-japanese cooperation.
in cultural reports, japanese media tend to focus more on the export of japanese culture to china, while ignoring the impact of chinese culture on japan. in fact, chinese film and television dramas, literature, and art also have a certain market in japan. the japanese housewives that the reporter knows are very familiar with chinese classic tv dramas and stars. however, japanese media tend to report on the popularity of japanese popular culture in china, which leads to the limited understanding of modern chinese culture among the japanese people, making it difficult for them to form a comprehensive understanding of chinese culture.
in addition, cultural exchanges have not received enough attention in japanese media reports. the japanese people's understanding of chinese culture often remains at the level of traditional culture, ignoring the diversity of contemporary chinese culture. the japanese read "romance of the three kingdoms" with great interest, but know almost nothing about contemporary chinese cultural activities. there are a wide variety of books about japan in chinese bookstores, but there are very few books about contemporary chinese literature, society and culture in japanese bookstores. the most famous one is the science fiction novel "the three-body problem", which has always been on the list of bestsellers in japan.
the reporter also noticed that when japanese media choose which chinese news to report, they tend to report negative events, such as air pollution and food safety, while reporting less on positive chinese news, such as technological innovation and environmental protection actions. this selective reporting makes it easy for the japanese people to ignore china's current development and progress.
japanese scholars reflect: many international reports are "irrelevant"
in may this year, david mcneill, a professor at the university of tokyo, published an article in the asia pacific daily-japan focus analyzing the changes in japanese media reports on china over the past 50 years. after the normalization of diplomatic relations between china and japan in the 1970s, japanese media reports on china mostly focused on china's development. but in the 1990s, the situation changed. a former reporter of the nihon keizai shimbun criticized japan's right-wing tendency at the time and recalled: "when i was young, i never thought of writing negative reports about china. at that time, about 80% of japanese people liked china, but now the situation is completely different." on the one hand, japanese conservatives began to challenge most of the recognized narratives of world war ii, including war atrocities in china. at the same time, japanese media reports on china began to exaggerate "tensions in the taiwan strait" and "china's concerns about the us-japan alliance." in 1993, the ruling liberal democratic party of japan stepped down for the first time since 1955 until shinzo abe became prime minister in 2012. the article said that in 2010, china surpassed japan to become the world's second largest economy, coupled with the decline in confidence in the japan-us alliance, which caused deep anxiety among japanese nationalists.
lian degui, a professor at the school of japanese culture and economics of shanghai international studies university, told the global times that japanese media are often inextricably linked to political forces, which leads to these media having specific positions and narratives when reporting on china's issues. on the surface, most japanese media are independently operated, but in fact, except for nhk, which is a public broadcasting and television organization that relies on the viewing fees paid by households with televisions as its source of income, other japanese media need to rely on advertising to maintain themselves, and there are different consortiums and political organizations behind them, which also means that these media represent different political tendencies.
for example, a global times reporter once went to interview the yomiuri shimbun, one of japan's largest daily newspapers. at that time, he learned that the newspaper was deeply influenced by japan's conservative political forces and had a close relationship with the liberal democratic party. its reporting tendencies were usually consistent with the liberal democratic party's policy direction, especially on national security and international relations. therefore, in its reports on china, the yomiuri shimbun usually highlights "china's military expansion" and the "geopolitical challenges" it brings to japan, portraying china as a "threatening opponent."
even nhk, which is generally considered to be "authoritative and neutral", may be influenced by the government in its operations and reporting. the japanese government has a certain influence on nhk's funding and management, especially through the "broadcasting law" to supervise and guide nhk. the government's appointment of nhk board members and review of nhk's budget may affect the content and direction of its reporting.
"the media's views not only represent their own positions, but also represent the specific 'fans' behind them." da zhigang, a researcher at the northeast asian research institute of the heilongjiang academy of social sciences, told the global times that if there are differences in society, the media's views actually represent the voices of different groups in society. take the asahi shimbun as an example. its left-wing tendency attracts many left-wing readers, while right-wing people may tend to read other media that conform to their views. media reports and analysis may guide public opinion, and public opinion will in turn affect the content and direction of the media.
a reporter from the yomiuri shimbun who has been stationed in china for many years told the global times that many japanese commercial media only publish news that readers want to see without considering the direction of public opinion. therefore, some japanese media reports on china are highly aggressive because their audiences have an unfriendly view of china and want to see more negative information.
in addition, japanese scholars often discuss the problem of "western-centrism" in japanese media's international news reporting. when reporting on china, some japanese media often rely on reports from western media and directly quote western media's analysis and opinions to interpret china. this practice makes japanese media's reports on china often have western perspectives and tendencies, and lack independence. especially when western media reports on china are biased, the secondary citations of japanese media may further amplify these biases.
some scholars have also noticed that while japanese media reports on china have changed, their international news reports as a whole have also changed. virgil hawkins, editor-in-chief of global news view, a media research institute at osaka university and an australian scholar, analyzed that since the 1990s, the focus of japanese media news reports has gradually shifted to the domestic market, and the amount of international news reports has decreased by about 40%. this has not only affected the public's perception of china, but also more broadly caused the japanese public to lack an overall understanding of international issues. japanese scholars yo iiyama and yoichi shimada published the book "japan's international reports are all lies" in january this year, sharply criticizing the government and the media. they believe that japan's reports on many international news are "irrelevant", and even some members of congress know nothing about the situation in the middle east.
“see china, travel china”
according to kyodo news, the japanese cabinet office announced the results of its annual public opinion survey on china in january this year. among them, the proportion of respondents who "have no sense of closeness" or "relatively no sense of closeness" to china is 86.7%. however, the global times' special correspondent in japan feels that the survey covers only a few thousand people and is not very credible. many japanese people, while learning chinese and reading chinese classical literature, answered in the survey that they "have no sense of closeness to china". this is to some extent due to the strong sense of "peer pressure" among the japanese people. in particular, in recent years, there have been many news reports about "the japanese people's reduced sense of closeness to china". many people who do not have a clear like or dislike for china will also follow suit and say that they have a bad impression of china.
at the same time, it is interesting to note that 41.6% of japanese "generation z" respondents feel "close" to china, which is significantly higher than other age groups. a reporter from the yomiuri shimbun told the global times that in japan, the middle-aged and elderly groups mainly use traditional mainstream media to obtain information, while young people have more channels to obtain information, have a broader vision, and have different views on china.
the global times' special correspondent in japan has noticed that quite a number of japanese are happy to learn about the real china. a japanese friend of the reporter who has business dealings with china likes to chat with taxi drivers when he is on a business trip to china. he told the reporter: "taxi drivers are knowledgeable and have many topics to talk about. it is very beneficial to chat with them. they can understand the ups and downs of the lives of ordinary chinese people." some japanese people learn chinese by themselves, read news in chinese media online, and compare them with japanese media reports on china to draw their own views and conclusions. the reporter also has a japanese friend who is over 70 years old. he has been learning chinese by himself for decades. he told the reporter that he goes to the gym every day and often meets chinese people. he always tries to chat with them in chinese. he said: "only by talking to chinese people can you understand the real china."
"japanese media has influenced the japanese people's 'view of china'," lian degui told the global times. da zhigang also said that in recent years, the japanese people's favorable impression of china has declined, and the japanese media has played a role in fueling the situation. behind this is essentially the dangerous china policy and china containment mentality promoted by the japanese government, as well as the periodic and repeated and overall distrust and demonization of china.
on august 30, xue jian, the chinese consul general in osaka, mentioned the challenges facing the current sino-japanese relations at the 7th western japan sino-japanese friendship exchange conference. he said that due to the lack of opportunities and channels for japanese society to directly contact and understand china, as well as the one-sided and distorted reports on china by the japanese media, most japanese people have misunderstandings and prejudices about china. he proposed that the japanese people should be encouraged to "see china and travel around china" so that they can have a true, objective, comprehensive and balanced understanding of china and create the necessary conditions for the improvement and development of bilateral relations. ▲# hundreds of reviews#
