I was living in Osaka on 9/11 and working in Amagasaki. I remember hearing the same thing, about the muslim deportations, both from my co-workers as well as there being a few short stories about it on the radio and television news at the time; but, those quickly went away.
Japanese society, as a whole it seemed, recognized the threat and decided to eliminate it in the quickest and quietest way possible. No fanfare, no protests, just sent them away.
Jeez, I miss that about Japan.
I admit I am a little uneasy about the influence the government has on the media via the “press club” system. The media here is as free here as, but somehow, if the word trickles down that the government would prefer that a particular story be given minimal attention, it is absolutely amazing how fast it vanishes.
Since 2001 there have been a number of attempts to use Japanese media to play the Islamophobia victim card. Press conferences, protests, calls for mass action. If they get any ink at all, it’s a Page 3, below the fold, two column, maybe four to six inches of copy — that day. The next? Uh uh... And you can forget anything on TV or radio. It won’t happen. Most of the time, the instigator is already on his/her way out of the country.
I also have mixed emotions about how willing the foreign media is to play along with this. Again, it’s not “officially” the government that’s leaning on them, it’s the press clubs, which are technically independent of the government. That being said, if a reporter or news organization bucks the “advice” of the press club, they suddenly get ZERO access to anything, and there is nobody they can complain to, so they shut up and play ball.