Photo/Illutration Motohiko Saito shakes hands with supporters the day after his re-election on Nov. 18 in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. (Yoshinori Mizuno)

The outcome of the Nov. 17 gubernatorial election in Hyogo Prefecture must have made many people shake their heads, uncomprehending.

Governor Motohiko Saito, who had been forced to vacate the office when the prefectural assembly unanimously voted in favor of a no-confidence motion against him in September, was “re-elected” in a landslide.

I am told that the atmosphere that prevailed during this election campaign was far from ordinary.

Whenever Saito made street corner speeches, his supporters yelled at reporters to “get lost,” accusing them of “biased reporting.”

One of the gubernatorial candidates posted video footage to social media and proclaimed, “There was no power harassment.”

According to a Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) exit poll, which asked voters where they had turned to for information before going to the polls, “social media and video-sharing platforms” was the answer given by 30 percent—the biggest group.

Those who answered “newspapers” and “TV” made up only 24 percent each.

These are sad and serious numbers for the news media.

I presume all the prefectural assembly legislators who grilled Saito in the Article 100 Committee, as well as the 22 mayors in the prefecture who supported Kazumi Inamura, not to mention political parties and the news media as a whole, were all perceived by the voting public as being on the side of those with “vested interests” to protect.

In the above-mentioned NHK exit poll, a whopping 70 percent of respondents said they “approved” of the Saito administration.

In their eyes, Saito must have been a reformist who was being persecuted by those with vested interests.

However, it was Saito whose acts of power harassment had been witnessed and heard by four of 10 of his subordinates.

Different people were looking at different “worlds.”

In the United States, it has already become routine for Donald Trump to fan supporters at his rallies into screaming obscenities such as “Get f---, CNN.”

Perhaps Japanese people, too, are now on their way to getting there.

Unless we in the media deal squarely with the public’s distrust in us, there can be no stopping the growing rift. This is a heavy responsibility to shoulder.

—The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 19

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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