The Japanese news media has yet again disappointed me. Last week, they mentioned the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in the U.S. However, rather than addressing Trump’s problematic rhetoric (“There’s a spike in cases because we’re testing more, so we should test less”) or the rush to restart the economy as possible factors for the rise, they decided to highlight the BLM protests as the main source for the increase in cases.
They went so far as to go to a reporter on the ground in L.A., and in a list of possible causes for the spike, only the word "protests" was highlighted. While I understand that a rise in cases could definitely be caused by the recent protests, I believe that the way the information was presented was purposefully biased, putting the BLM protests in a poor light. This needs to change, because it perpetuates the idea that protesting is equivalent to "causing problems" which, in Japanese society especially, is highly looked down upon.
And while we’re calling for reform, let’s finally get rid of the Rising Sun flag. For the same reasons that the Confederate flag in the U.S. and the swastika in Germany should be/are banned, Japan’s use of the Rising Sun flag should be banned, too. No wonder China and South Korea are still so irritated.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.
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