The State Secrets Protection Bill (6.12.2013)
The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 12, Issue 10, No. 1, March 10, 2014.
Der Aufsatz kann hier als pdf geöffnet werden.

Japan’s 2013 State Secrecy Act -- The Abe Administration’s Threat to News Reporting
2013年日本の特定秘密保護法　安部政権、報道に対する脅し

Lawrence Repeta

The “Specially Designated Secrets Protection Law”1 poses a severe threat to news reporting and press freedom in Japan. Government officials have not shied away from intimidating reporters in the past. The new law will grant them greater power to do so. Passage of the law fulfills a longstanding government objective to gain additional leverage over the news media. The new law could have a withering effect on news reporting and thus on the people’s knowledge of the actions of their government.

Precedents

In 2009 a highly respected reporter for Japan’s primary news wire service, Ohta Masakatsu, conducted a series of interviews with retired senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerning “secret agreements” (mitsuyaku) allowing the entry of U.S. naval vessels into Japanese ports and waters with nuclear weapons aboard. This is a matter of intense public interest, not only due to implications for Japan’s national security but also because of the longstanding government policy of denial. Ohta’s work confirmed that the government had lied to the Japanese people about nuclear weapons policy for decades.