First, my thanks to Timr and Leftcoast for their encouraging remarks.
Second, a word of warning. What I read in my morning papers is limited to what I read in The Japan Times(an English-language paper sometimes criticized as being Japan's Pravda) and the Asahi Shimbun (the major Japanese paper regarded as being furthest to the left in its editorial stance--though we are, everyone admits, talking about very subtle differences).
That said, what pops out at me as I peruse the two front pages in the Sunday, January 21, 2006 morning editions is that while the U.S. appears prominently in The Japan Times, it is not mentioned at all in the Asahi Shimbun.
The main headline in The Japan Times is
U.S. says U.N. funds regime in Pyongyang
The lead reads: "The U.S. on Friday accused a U.N. agency of funneling millions of dollars in cash aid to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, and questioned if the aid had been diverted to purposes such as nuclear weapons development."
Just below it is
Tougher rules eyed for N. Korea trade
The rules in question are Japanese government rules: "The government is seeking harsher punishment for violations of the Customs Law to curb illegal trade with North Korea and increase the effectiveness of economic sanctions."
Top right is the headline
China says it poses no threat to space
The lead reads: "China on Friday played down fears of a military space race after U.S. spy agencies said the communist country had shot down a satellite for the first time...."
The contrast in the headlines of The Asahi Shimbun could hardly be more dramatic. The main story is
"Natto reduces weight" program faked
The picture that accompanies the story shows executives of Fuji TV publicly apologizing for a program that used fake data to promote the idea that a diet including natto (fermented soy beans) helps dieters to reduce weight. To grasp why this is front page news, it is useful to know that the previous weeks papers have been filled with similar apologies and the resignation of the President of Fujiya, a confectionary company that makes cheap snacks popular with Japanese kids, that has just admitted using ingredients past their expiration date, a story which was itself a reminder of other stories within the past few years, e.g., Yujirushi Dairy's confessing that tanks had not been properly cleaned, resulting in cases of food poisoning.
The second main story above the fold is
Subway collusion under stronger investigation
The investigation in question concerns construction companies suspected of rigging bids for subway construction in Nagoya (the largest city in Chubu, the part of Japan where Toyota is based).
Other front page stories include continuing chaos in university entrance exams of English listening comprehension and a fire at a karaoke store that killed one teenager and severely injured three.
I am irresistibly reminded of the Japanese distinction between tatemae, what you show on the surface, and honne, how you really feel about things. Then, on reflection, I note that The Japan Times is published for a audience of self-consciously international, primarily business or government, people, while The Asahi Shimbun, though it prides itself on being the newspaper of choice for Japanese intellectuals, is much more oriented to the man or woman in the street. But, whichever is correct, if you see someone citing The Japan Times as evidence of what "the Japanese" think, it is best, I suggest, to take the claim with a large lashing of soy sauce.
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