Problems can't be solved until they're acknowledged, and it is considered the job of the media to bring hidden social problems into the open. The media, however, can't be counted on to provide perspective, which means that what are often perceived as new problems are actually old ones.

As the number of reported domestic violence and child abuse incidents increases dramatically, the media has latched onto the word gyakutai (abuse). Stories of parents murdering their children seem to appear in the news on an almost daily basis. The tabloid press and wide shows report the more sordid cases in detail.

Abuse is cyclical in nature: A parent feels stress in raising a child, takes his or her anger out on the child, and then feels guilty about the anger, thus becoming even more stressed. Full-time housewives make up the bulk of the audience for wide shows, and many spend their entire days with small children. It's inevitable that they sometimes recognize themselves in reports of egregious child abuse because they empathize with anyone caught in the cycle, even if they don't, legally speaking, abuse their children.