【By Tang Zhiyuan】

Recently, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce issued an announcement, adding 20 Japanese entities involved in enhancing Japan's military strength, including Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., to the export control list. Another 20 Japanese entities were added to the watchlist. This is a precise and powerful countermeasure against Japan's continuous breakthroughs of the "Peace Constitution" constraints and its military buildup. These companies are mostly core enterprises in Japan's defense and manufacturing sectors, directly hitting the vital points of Japan.

Interestingly, according to my observation, the Japanese authorities and mainstream media have clearly been trying to downplay or devalue the effectiveness of China's measures, even appearing with arrogant remarks online. Not only this export control, but also previous Chinese measures such as the export control of key rare earth items and travel warnings for visiting Japan, the Japanese authorities and mainstream media either claimed "the impact on Japan is minimal," or exaggerated that "Japan has already found alternatives." Looking at the comments section of related reports on Yahoo News in Japan, high-rated comments are mostly filled with arrogant rhetoric: many Japanese netizens "celebrated" China's export controls as "a chance for Japan to completely break away from the Chinese supply chain"; one Japanese netizen posted a comment saying "China's sanctions will only accelerate Japanese companies' withdrawal, and China will eventually suffer the consequences" which received thousands of likes; some extreme comments even incited "completely banning entry of Chinese people" and "expelling Chinese people in Japan."

This seemingly collective狂欢 (celebration) of public opinion is not just a temporary emotional outburst, but a deep-rooted illness in Japanese society. This narrative logic of "downplaying the dilemma, forcibly beautifying failure, and fully screening the truth" was already perfected by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters during World War II. What continues this absurd logic to this day is the "information cocoon" that Japan has never broken through.

"Imperial General Headquarters Battle Reports" and the "Matsugen Oil Scandal"

During World War II, the "Imperial General Headquarters Battle Reports" were the prototype of Japan's information cocoon. In June 1942, the Battle of Midway saw the Japanese navy suffer a devastating defeat: four aircraft carriers, Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu, were sunk, 332 aircraft were destroyed, and the Combined Fleet lost half of its combat power, losing the strategic initiative in the Pacific.

This undeniable catastrophic defeat was portrayed in the "Imperial General Headquarters Battle Reports" as a "decisive victory," claiming that the Japanese had sunk two American aircraft carriers, one cruiser, and shot down 120 aircraft, while the Japanese "only lost one carrier, one cruiser, and 35 aircraft that did not return." To cover up the lie, the Japanese military isolated and sealed off surviving crew members, even holding a celebratory parade in Tokyo, using revelry to suppress the truth.

In the later stages of the Pacific War, the U.S. cut off Japan's oil transport routes from Southeast Asia, leading to an oil shortage in Japan, making it impossible for aircraft and ships to operate, and almost halting military production. The Japanese army's "final battle on the home front" slogan wavered. Faced with this desperate situation, the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters launched the "Matsugen Oil Movement," claiming that they could extract alternative aviation gasoline from Matsugen roots, shouting "millions of pine roots will support the final battle on the home front."

Factually, the octane value of Matsugen oil is extremely low and cannot meet aviation fuel standards. Up until Japan's surrender, this grand national movement produced barrels of Matsugen oil that could not be used for aircraft. However, the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters continued to use "technical breakthrough" reports to deceive the public, concealing the fact that resources were exhausted and defeat was inevitable.

At that time, it was like now. Facing the rare earth export control, Japan brought out the same script, with the protagonist shifting from "Matsugen oil" to "seabed rare earth mud." In fact, in recent years, the Japanese government and mainstream media have repeatedly hyped up the rare earth mud in the Nishinoshima Islands, claiming that the seabed rare earth reserves in that area exceed 160 million tons, enough to meet Japan's needs for hundreds of years, and that commercial exploitation is about to be realized, completely freeing Japan from reliance on Chinese rare earths.

But just like Matsugen oil, this "ace" exists only in paper propaganda. The Nishinoshima rare earth mine is located more than 5,000 meters below the sea, with enormous mining difficulties and costs possibly reaching tens of thousands of dollars per ton, dozens of times higher than the price of Chinese rare earth exports, making it practically unfeasible for commercial exploitation. Since its initial discovery, Japan has not produced a single ton of commercially usable rare earths. Talking about rare earth mud is like whistling in the dark, just an act of self-deception to soothe domestic public opinion.

Distorted and Abnormal Perceptions of China

What is terrifying is that this narrative pattern has spread from wartime propaganda into today's Japanese society, with perceptions of China becoming a major hotspot. Japan has built a comprehensive and all-around perception blockade against China, forming an unrealistic and extremely biased narrative of China, which stands out as an oddity even among Western allies.

Japanese media's reporting on China has formed a pattern of "negative priority, opposing China at every opportunity." In the coverage of six major newspapers and NHK television stations, negative issues have long dominated, with much higher frequency than Western mainstream media such as BBC, Reuters, and AFP. Content about China's poverty alleviation and technological innovation is almost entirely absent in Japan's mainstream public opinion field. Even for China's leading industries such as new energy vehicles, photovoltaics, and high-speed rail, Japanese media often maliciously depict them as "copying Japanese technology" or "dumping at low prices," deliberately blackening the image of China without mentioning China's technological advantages, completely shielding the real image of China's development.

A chart in the 2026 Munich Security Conference report shows the degree of recognition of China and the U.S. as technological powers. From the chart, it can be seen that most countries believe that China and the U.S. are the top two technological powers, either considering China slightly weaker than the U.S., or countries like South Africa and Germany even believe that China is slightly ahead of the U.S. Only Japan became an oddity and the most unique existence in the chart, revealing the absurd and unrealistic nature of Japan's perception of China.

Comprehensive information suppression and hype have led to long-term high levels of negative perceptions of China among the Japanese public, ranking first among developed countries. According to the "Foreign Affairs Public Opinion Survey" by the Cabinet Office, for over a decade, more than 80% of respondents have shown no sense of closeness towards China, far exceeding Western countries like the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. It is absurd that the majority of Japanese people who hold negative views of China have never been to China or come into contact with the real Chinese society, and their perception of China comes from the constructed "negative China" illusion.

From the "Imperial General Headquarters Battle Reports" and Matsugen oil in World War II, to today's Nishinoshima rare earth mud, and the comprehensive information blockades and narratives about China, Japan has never learned to face reality and acknowledge history. When the barriers of the information cocoon are finally shattered by reality, all self-deception and public opinion embellishment will ultimately become historical lessons and heavy costs.

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Original: toutiao.com/article/7612579814653854227/

Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.