Norika Fujiwara, a TV celebrity who serves as goodwill ambassador for the Japanese Red Cross, recently caused a media sensation when she came out against the government's proposed secrecy legislation, saying it would adversely affect citizens.

Writing on her website last month, Fujiwara, 42, urged her fans to pressure the government to kill the bill, which the Diet will take up in an extraordinary session scheduled to open Oct. 15.

In speaking out this way, Fujiwara was siding with the Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association in opposing the bill because it threatens the right to know and freedom of speech, thus imperiling democracy.