After his nightmare summer of 1994, when the media branded him the prime suspect in the fatal sarin gas attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Yoshiyuki Kono embarked on a crusade to end press violations of citizens' rights.
Squeezing spare time from his job and caring for his wife, who has been in a coma since being exposed to the nerve agent, Kono has spoken to countless citizens and students nationwide and written a series of essays pointing out the problems of journalism today.
On June 27, 1994, seven of Kono's neighbors were killed and he and his wife hospitalized after the deadly gas was released in their community. Kono was the first to report it to police, who subsequently opened an investigation. The media barrage soon followed.