Photo/Illutration "Let's speak out tomorrow too, like a mourning flag blowing in the wind." After the incident, the phrase was displayed in The Asahi Shimbun's Hanshin Bureau and became a slogan for unity in defense of speech.

As this year’s Constitution Day on May 3 rolls around, we remain firmly committed to reject any form of violent attacks against freedom of speech and expression.

On May 3, 1987, a masked gunman stormed The Asahi Shimbun’s Hanshin Bureau in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, and opened fire with a shotgun. 

Asahi Shimbun reporter Tomohiro Kojiri, who was 29, was killed and colleague Hyoe Inukai was seriously injured. 

A group calling itself “Sekihotai” claimed responsibility for the attack, reviling The Asahi Shimbun in a statement that said, “A 'han-nichi bunshi' (anti-Japanese element) only deserves capital punishment.”

The statement was composed of despicable words aimed at suppressing free speech. Thirty-six years since the attack, we renew our solid commitment to reject any act that denies democracy.

Over the past year, we have seen a series of attacks against freedom of speech.

In July last year, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was gunned down during an election campaign speech. Nine months later, an explosive device was thrown toward Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Both attacks were carried out during speeches for candidates running in elections, which are a foundation of democracy. The attackers seized opportunities provided by campaign speeches in which politicians speak about their policies in front of voters.

These attacks are tantamount to acts of destruction against the people, the holder of sovereignty.

In November, Shinji Miyadai, a professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University who has been a vocal commentator on a wide range of topics including political and religious issues, was seriously injured in an attack perpetrated on the university’s campus.

All these attacks seem to reflect the notion that you can use violence to change society when your opinions are ignored. We are concerned that these kinds of violent acts could spread such a simplistic idea in society.

There are many unanswered questions about what drove the individuals to  perpetrate the attacks. But resorting to violence is totally unacceptable. These despicable acts do not deserve any sympathy or defense.

Democracy only works in a society where various opinions and thoughts are allowed to be expressed. The cardinal principle is that conflict between different opinions must be dissolved through talks.

Distrust of politics, anxiety about the future and a sense of entrapment tend to breed a trend of putting the blame for frustration on certain specific targets and directing anger at these targets.

These days, the internet is awash with comments denouncing people with different views and opinions, calling them “traitors” and ganging up on those who have committed inappropriate acts by disclosing their real names.

Slandering and emotional verbal “lynching” can in no way help promote justice.

Last year, the Kyoto District Court handed down a four-year prison sentence to an arsonist for setting a vacant house on fire in an ethnic Korean community in the Utoro district of Uji, Kyoto Prefecture.

Presiding Judge Keisuke Masuda noted in his ruling that the defendant's motive was "self-righteous, self-centered and based on prejudice and hatred and merited no further consideration by the court.” The ruling was a scathing and vital rebuke to violence driven by discrimination.

Article 19 of the Constitution says, “Freedom of thought and conscience shall not be violated.” This freedom is the source of all other kinds of mental and spiritual freedom.

An unwavering commitment by society to reject violence, hate, discrimination and attacks driven by them is essential for protecting this right.

There were eight terrorist acts linked or related to the attack against The Asahi Shimbun’s Hanshin Bureau. After the gun attack on the bureau, The Asahi Shimbun pledged not to yield to any form of violence and to protect the freedom of speech at all costs.

Our commitment to this pledge will never waver.

-- The Asahi Shimbun, May 2

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