Tag - state-secrets

 
 

STATE SECRETS

COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 20, 2013
Dictatorship of the majority
Japanese civic movements conspicuously picked up steam to oppose the state secrets bill just before its enactment into law, illustrating that many Japanese voters become critical of the Abe administration when it takes up issues other than the economy.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Dec 18, 2013
A secrets law for whom? Look who gets a free pass
Ancient Confucian scholars regarded law as a necessary evil, something used on lower orders of people who lacked the moral refinement to act righteously without prompting. Yet this just states a basic truth about law: It is something we do to other people. You and I know how to act properly, right? It's those awful other people who act like jerks and need their freedom restricted by rules.
EDITORIALS
Dec 15, 2013
Ishiba's ominous words
Statements by LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba underscore the danger that the new state secrets law could pose to Japanese democracy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 14, 2013
TPP offers early test of how far secrets law will cow Japan's media
Journalist Toshihiro Yamanaka characterizes the TPP talks as 'the most secretive trade negotiations to take place since the end of the 19th century,' an observation supported by classified documents recently released by WikiLeaks showing how the U.S. is pressuring all countries involved in TPP to make sure details of the talks are kept from the public.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 14, 2013
Society struggles to adapt to post-privacy age
Individuals are visible as never before, and democratic governments, reeling from successive exposures of state secrets, are struggling desperately to withdraw into the shadows. No democracy has gone further in that direction than Japan under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Dec 14, 2013
State secrets bill shows Abe's tin ear for local politics
Former U.S. Speaker of the House Thomas "Tip" O'Neill, one of America's most influential politicians of the late 20th century, had some sage advice for those who thought about national or international politics. "All politics," O'Neill warned, "is local."
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2013
Government to promulgate new secrets law quickly
The government will promulgate the contentious state secrets law Friday, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet will be tested in its ability to create viable independent overseers to check how the state classifies and declassifies information before the law takes effect within a year.
EDITORIALS
Dec 12, 2013
Repeal the state secrets law
Repeal of the recently enacted state secrets law appears indispensable for ensuring that Japan remains an open society with democratic principles fully upheld.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 11, 2013
Reporters who divulge secrets could face new law's wrath: Ishiba
Two days before the contentious state secrets law getting the official nod, Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba waded into the fray Wednesday by saying journalists could be punished for reporting state-designated classified information, only to backpedal slightly.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 9, 2013
Secrets law bruises Abe's ratings
The Cabinet's sharp drop in the opinion polls shows that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might have expended too much of his political capital on enacting the state secrets law.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 7, 2013
Passage of contentious secrets law ends extra Diet session
The extraordinary Diet session effectively closed Saturday morning after the House of Councilors enacted the state secrecy law despite raucous protests from the opposition camp.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 6, 2013
Diet enacts controversial state secrets bill
The Upper House passes the state secrets bill despite soaring opposition over the lack of an independent oversight body to check the government's decisions.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2013
Protests over secrets bill fiery at 11th hour
Citizens' groups continue to blast the state secrets bill with unabated vigor amid concerns that 'merely seeking secret information' could put journalists at risk.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 6, 2013
Japan's ruling bloc set to force state secrets bill to vote
The ruling bloc will put the controversial secrets bill to a vote in the Upper House on Friday, leaving a rift open with the opposition camp over the independent oversight system to ensure the public's right to know.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 5, 2013
Secrets bill clears panel by force
The Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling coalition was set to forcibly pass the contentious state secrecy bill into law as early as Thursday night, after it rammed the legislation through the Upper House Special Committee on National Security earlier on the day.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2013
Protesters voice alarm over state secrets bill
More than 1,200 protesters gathered outside the Diet building Thursday in a last-ditch effort to thwart the controversial state secrets bill, which the Diet is expected to pass Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2013
Opposition takes final swipe at bill
The ruling bloc and the opposition camp face off again over the contentious state secrets bill, even though it appears headed for passage by the Upper House before the Diet session ends Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 3, 2013
Fast-tracked secrecy bill riles opposition
The ruling coalition forces through a vote to hold a mandatory public hearing on the state secrets bill without giving opposition lawmakers a chance to speak.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2013
Public protests continue against state secrets bill
With the contentious state secrets bill slated to clear the Upper House this week, citizens have been holding daily protests in front of the Diet building, denouncing the law as emblematic of the "rise of fascism."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2013
U.N. human rights chief joins chorus urging secrecy law safeguards
The top U.N. human rights official urged Japan on Monday to heed public concerns raised at home and abroad over a bill to toughen penalties for leakers of state secrets.

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree