With the Diet poised to outlaw the planning of crimes, a former TV director and a film journalist are speaking out against the contentious conspiracy bill, urging the public to remember the lessons of the Yokohama Incident — a fatal case of political repression in World War II that was only resolved in 2010.
"What could make you believe this is a secret meeting?" former TV broadcaster Toshiko Kanazawa asked about a photo of seven yukata-clad men at the Monza inn in Asahi, Toyama Prefecture, in 1942.
The seven men, including political science scholar Karoku Hosokawa, had gathered at the inn to celebrate the publication of Hosokawa's book.