Tokyo, Sept. 3 -- As Vietnam celebrated its 80th National Day on September 2, Japanese media turned its gaze to the spectacle unfolding in Hanoi, where a grand military parade and vibrant processions served as both a tribute to the nation's hard-won independence and a testament to the legitimacy of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).

Nikkei Asia published an in-depth mega story packed with vivid, large-format images and graphics showing Vietnam's evolution. The story opened with a striking photo of a Vietnamese war soldier, weathered yet resolute, raising the national flag amid a sea of people clad in red shirts and veterans in green uniforms.

The crowds, it observed, filled Hanoi's streets, radiating pride in a nation that has surmou...