Hoax
As in the previous issue (”This Cunning 06 a kind of rotten… | NO PREFIX NOTES”), I will follow up on the series of articles that Shuichi Kitao posted on July 20 in response to Keigo Oyamada’s resignation, “What I thought after rereading the Bullying Chronicles” (hereinafter referred to as the Kitao document), which was posted by Shuichi Kitao on July 20 following the resignation of Keigo Oyamada.
The existence of a “hoax” whispered in the Keigo Oyamada affair. What is this “hoax”? What did they want after drowning out the voice of Keigo Oyamada?
I’d like to look back on that time, hoping to share some of the strong sense of discomfort I felt at the end of July.
As a fan of Shuichi Kitao, this is a natural thing to do.
The biggest hoax
First of all, let me be clear.
I believe that the biggest hoax in the Keigo Oyamada issue is the Rockin’ On Japan magazine.
If it were not for the pages of Rockin’ On Japan, there would be no Keigo Oyamada problem. On this point alone, there should be wide agreement.
The trouble is, the magazine is an interview, and it is based on the words of Keigo Oyamada. Who had the problem, Keigo Oyamada or Rockin’ On Japan? Only the parties involved can tell. However, since both parties have neglected this hoax for a long time, its credibility has increased.
I’m sorry to hear that this is the worst bomb of all, and I’m sure it will only create trouble for everyone involved.
Rockin’ on Japan
There is a source that is referred to in the Keigo Oyamada issue as “Rockin’” or “ROJ”. It is the “20,000-word interview with Keigo Oyamada” that was published in the January 1994 issue of ROCKIN’ON JAPAN. Have you ever seen a magazine with striking red letters in articles dealing with the issue of Keigo Oyamada? That’s Rockin’.
Many of the bad images of Keigo Oyamada, including the poop backdrop (a hoax), originated from this magazine. This is also the source of the Chofu super shoplifting place, the Carstairs robbery, and the failed toilet to hide evidence (probably a hoax).
At the time of the interview, it seems that Keigo Oyamada had a clear guideline of daring to behave in an explicit manner in order to change his previous image. It must have been a mutually beneficial interview for both Keigo Oyamada and Rockin at the time.
Voice of Keigo Oyamada
Prior to his resignation, Keigo Oyamada made a statement regarding his own bullying issues (Regarding participation in the production of music for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was a sincere shame about his immaturity. He has a good grasp of the current situation and summarizes what the problems are. With enough time, it will surely be accepted, including its authenticity, extra crimes, and responses. I thought it was a very convincing apology. I was even impressed that he was able to raise his voice from the bottom of the poop backdrop (it’s a hoax) of the time.
Let me quote a bit from this statement.
However, there is no doubt that I hurt my classmates with my comments and actions when I was a student, and I was aware of this, so I felt that I was responsible for my own actions, and I made the decision to not point out the wrong content or exaggerations, and to remain calm at the time.
I think I was a very immature person when I was a student and at the time of the interview, I could not imagine the feelings of the victims.
--- 16 July Keigo Oyamada Regarding his participation in the production of music for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Named hoax.
In the statement I quoted, there are things that are named.
Let me arbitrarily highlight the parts you need to see. I’m going to follow Shuichi Kitao’s lead and use highlighter marking style.
There are many things in the article that are not true due to the fact that I was not able to check the manuscript before it was released, but since I was definitely aware of the fact that I had hurt my classmates with my comments and actions when I was a student, I felt that I was responsible for my own actions and came to the decision to not point out the wrong content or the exaggeration and to remain calm at the time.
--- 16 July Keigo Oyamada Regarding his participation in the production of music for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games
It seems to be Rockin’ On Japan’s policy at the time that it is not possible to check manuscripts before release.
If Keigo Oyamada wanted to correct his exaggerated story, “correction” would be appropriate. However, Keigo Oyamada chose the word “point out”. (In the statement by Keigo Oyamada dated September 17, the part corresponding to this point is called “correction. (In Keigo Oyamada’s statement dated September 17, the part corresponding to this point is called “correction,” and I would like to discuss this subtle change in expression at some point.)
In other words, Keigo Oyamada is saying that “Rockin” is a “hoax”.
There were people who didn’t want that.
At the time he issued his statement, it seemed to me that Keigo Oyamada was trying to apologize head-on for the problem. The July 16 statement conveyed a strong determination to face the reality that the magazine had been left untouched for more than 20 years.
In the process, what is sure to be discussed is the background of the magazine at the time it was created. They will have to find out under what circumstances the interview was conducted, how it was edited, which parts were misinterpreted, which parts were exaggerated, and why and by whom it was conducted.
It is the publishers who will be in trouble.
Not only did they use the bullying for commercial purposes, but what if there are problems with the editing as well? If the root cause of the Keigo Oyamada firestorm is found to be on the publisher’s side, they could be held responsible for the whole Olympic-related fiasco.
This was decades ago. There is no way to prove anything. It is not hard to imagine that it would be a cruel and horrible lynching.
In short, I think the publishers wanted to avoid being involved in a poop backdrop (a hoax) with Keigo Oyamada.
“Keigo Oyamada hoax”
From the end of July to August, I seem to remember that the topic of “hoax” about Keigo Oyamada started to spread rapidly. Naturally, the number of searches for “Keigo Oyamada hoax” must have increased. So what was this “hoax” about Oyamada Keigo?
Was it the Rockin’ On Japan magazine article that Keigo Oyamada pointed out in his statement?
A search on Twitter for “ROJ hoax” yielded a whopping 15 results from July 15 (the day a certain tweet was posted) to October 28. Five results for “rockin’ hoax.
…Almost nothing is being said about it.
What was showing up in the search results for “Keigo Oyamada hoax” instead of rockin’? A certain blog? A certain tweet? A certain newspaper? A certain journalist: ？？？？
… “hoax” has been overridden.
Override.
Keigo Oyamada released a statement on July 16, and a statement regarding his resignation on July 19, and on the following day, July 20, Shuichi Kitao published ”What I thought after re-reading Bullying Chronicles 01-Introduction“.
There are many things in the article that are not true due to the fact that I was not able to check the manuscript before its release, but there is no doubt that my comments and actions hurt my classmates when I was a student, and I was aware of this, so I felt that I was responsible for my own actions, and I did not point out any incorrect content or exaggerations, and at the time, I made the decision to remain calm.
--- July 16, Keigo Oyamada, ”Regarding participation in the production of music for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games”
Perhaps the article in the January 1994 issue of “Rocking On Japan” is a much simpler story. This is just a guess, but I think that Mr. Oyamada exaggerated the events of his school days as lip service to the interviewer. Then, the magazine published it as it was. I don’t know about now, but it is well known that “Rocking On Japan” at that time did not let musicians check the manuscript.
--- July 23 Kitao Shuichi ”What I thought after rereading “Bullying Chronicles” 03- Why “Bullying Chronicles” was born”
Furthermore, although it is not the purpose of this article to remind us of the end of July, I would like to quote a little from a statement released by Keigo Oyamada in September.
As for “ROCKIN’ON JAPAN”, I was not able to check the manuscript before it was released, so it was only after it was released that I found out how the contents I talked about were picked up and made into the magazine. When I saw it, I was shocked by the untrue headlines and the misleading claims that I had committed the entire series of acts, but I also felt that I had been complicit by being a bystander at the scene of the violence and that I was responsible for telling my story. I also felt that I was responsible for telling the story that I witnessed, so I decided not to ask for a correction in the magazine at the time, but to remain calm.
--- September 17 ”Apology and background explanation about the interview article on bullying”
Kitao document
It seems to me that the publishers had a good motive to do something before the fist of public opinion was shaken against the hoax that is Rockin’ On Japan magazine. In the Kitao document, Shuichi Kitao refers to a “personal blog. I would like to remind you that this is my own interpretation, but it seemed to me as if he was declaring that the blog was the source of the hoax. Please refer to my previous article on this subject (”This Cunning 06 a kind of rotten… | NO PREFIX NOTES”).
Keigo Oyamada pointed to Rockin’ On Japan, and Shuichi Kitao pointed to a “personal blog”.
The Kitao document is a powerful argument for the friendship between Keigo Oyamada and the bullying victims. Correcting the falsehoods presented there may be beneficial to Keigo Oyamada. Or, it must have been written for Keigo Oyamada, and he must be facing the same direction. I wonder if there was such a misunderstanding.
Looking at the results alone, there was almost nothing to be said about the Rockin’ On Japan hoax.
What kind of expression did Shuichi Kitao have on his face when he saw the “sycophants” who were so brilliantly manipulated? I would like to leave it to the readers to make up their own minds.
For whom were the Kitao documents written? I felt a strong sense of discomfort at the fact that the parties involved at the time were flatly overriding Keigo Oyamada’s statement.
Come to think of it, Shuichi Kitao states at the beginning of the Kitao document.
So, before I go on from here, I would like to emphasize again. After this, some readers may be tempted to say, “Are you trying to defend Keigo Oyamada? But let me repeat. I’m not defending him at all.
This article is not a defense of Keigo Oyamada’s alleged violent acts of bullying in the past. Please double-check this statement before proceeding.
--- Shuichi Kitao, ”Rereading the Bullying Chronicles and Thinking 02 - Was it Allowed in the 90s?”
Well, it’s not wrong, yeah.
