A Japanese point-of-view on the attack in the Gulf of Oman

This is coverage from Japanese television. PM Abe is in Iran for talks with Iran and one of the ships is “Japan- related”

Very interesting to see a Japanese poinbt-of-view

Japanese News Coverage Of Japanese Oil Tanker Being Attacked

"[We] have to switch [the Japanese] mindset... we are looking for the trigger."

Japan's Finance Minister Accidentally Reveals How It All Ends: "War"

Zero Hedge,

26 March, 2016

While this all started with a currency "war," it seems - according to a stunningly candid transcript of Japan's finance minister's conversation with none other than Paul Krugman - that the real endgame here is actual war. Aso remarked that "a similar [deflationary mindset] had occurred in the US in the 1930s. What solved the question? War! Because World War II had occurred during the 1940s and that became the solution for the United States. [We] have to switch [the Japanese] mindset... we are looking for the trigger."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been the most hawkishly militaristic PM of a generation, shifting from the passive society to an aggressor, beginning around 2013. This has only been emboldened by rising nationalism and escalatuing tensions in the South China Sea.

We note this by way of background as just-released transcripts of a conversation between Japanese finance minister Aso and Uber-Keynesian Paul Krugman reveal perhaps the reality that Japan faces as its economic and social structure collapses...

(Minister of Finance Aso)

During the 1930’s, I remember that in the United States likewise there was a situation of deflation. And the New Deal policies have been introduced by then President Roosevelt. As a result, it worked out very nicely, but the largest issue associated with it is that for a long period of time entrepreneurs and managers of companies did not go to make a capital investment by receiving the loan. It had continued up until the late 1930’s and that is the situation occurring in Japan too. The record high earnings have been generated by the Japanese companies but they would not spend in the capital investment. There are lots of earnings at hand on the part of the corporate in Japan. It should be used for wage hike or dividend payment or the capital investment, but they are not doing that. They are just holding onto their cash and deposits. Reserved earnings have kept going up.

A similar situation had occurred in the US in the 1930’s.

What solved the question? War! Because World War II had occurred during the 1940’s and that became the solution for the United States. So, let’s look at the entrepreneurs in Japan. They are stuck with the deflationary mindset.

They have to switch their mindset and should start making capital investments. We are looking for the trigger. That is the utmost concern.

(Prof. Krugman)

The important point about the war from the macroeconomic point of view is that it was a very large fiscal stimulus. That fact that it was a war is very unfortunate. It was simply something that led to a fiscal stimulus that would not otherwise have happened.

In fact, the story in the 1930’s was that the New Deal, Roosevelt backed off the fiscal stimulus in 1937, because then, as now, there were many calls for balancing the budget. That was a terrible mistake. It caused the major second recession.

Yes, obviously we are looking for ways to achieve something like that without war.

Obviously... though war would be handy eh? All that ammunition manufacturing and no inflationary pressure as everyone of them gets shot away. What could go wrong?

So here is  74 seconds of pure Krugmanism from the mouth of the man himself - Keynes 1939 (pre-war) radio address on the beginning of The Grand Experiment...

Krugman Goes To Japan, Scolds Abe For Worrying About Quadrillion Yen Debt Pile, Leaves

'Fukushima fascism'

They always said nuclear power would lead to a police state

---Helen Caldicott

Japan’s Deadly New ‘Fukushima Fascism’

Fukushima continues to spew out radiation. The quantities seem to be rising, as do the impacts

Harvey Wasserman

Scoop,

12 December, 2013

.

The site has been infiltrated by organized crime. There are horrifying signs of ecological disaster in the Pacific and human health impacts in the U.S.

But within Japan, a new State Secrets Act makes such talk punishable by up to ten years in prison.

Taro Yamamoto, a Japanese legislator, says the law “represents a coup d’etat” leading to “the recreation of a fascist state.” The powerful Asahi Shimbun newspaper compares it to “conspiracy” laws passed by totalitarian Japan in the lead-up to Pearl Harbor, and warns it could end independent reporting on Fukushima.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been leading Japan in an increasingly militaristic direction. Tensions have increased with China. Massive demonstrations have been renounced with talk of “treason.”

But it’s Fukushima that hangs most heavily over the nation and the world.

Tokyo Electric Power has begun the bring-down of hot fuel rods suspended high in the air over the heavily damaged Unit Four. The first assemblies it removed may have contained unused rods. The second may have been extremely radioactive.

But Tepco has clamped down on media coverage and complains about news helicopters filming the fuel rod removal.

Under the new State Secrets Act, the government could ban—and arrest—all independent media under any conditions at Fukushima, throwing a shroud of darkness over a disaster that threatens us all.

By all accounts, whatever clean-up is possible will span decades. The town of Fairfax, CA, has now called for a global takeover at Fukushima. More than 150,000 signees have asked the UN for such intervention.

As a private corporation, Tepco is geared to cut corners, slash wages and turn the clean-up into a private profit center.

It will have ample opportunity. The fuel pool at Unit Four poses huge dangers that could take years to sort out. But so do the ones at Units One, Two and Three. The site overall is littered with thousands of intensely radioactive rods and other materials whose potential fallout is thousands of times greater than what hit Hiroshima in 1945.

Soon after the accident, Tepco slashed the Fukushima workforce. It has since restored some of it, but has cut wages. Shady contractors shuttle in hundreds of untrained laborers to work in horrific conditions. Reuters says the site is heaving infiltrated by organized crime, raising the specter of stolen radioactive materials for dirty bombs and more.

Thousands of tons of radioactive water now sit in leaky tanks built by temporary workers who warn of their shoddy construction. They are sure to collapse with a strong earthquake.

Tepco says it may just dump the excess water into the Pacific anyway. Nuclear expert Arjun Makhijani has advocated the water be stored in supertankers until it can be treated, but the suggestion has been ignored.

Hundreds of tons of water also flow daily from the mountains through the contaminated site and into the Pacific. Nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen long ago asked Tepco to dig a trench filled with absorbents to divert that flow. But he was told that would cost too much money.

Now Tepco wants to install a wall of ice. But that can’t be built for at least two years. It’s unclear where the energy to keep the wall frozen will come from, or if it would work at all.

Meanwhile, radiation is now reaching record levels in both the air and water.

The fallout has been already been detected off the coast of Alaska. It will cycle down along the west coast of Canada and the U.S. to northern Mexico by the end of 2014. Massive disappearances of sea lion pups, sardines, salmon, killer whales and other marine life are being reported, along with a terrifying mass disintegration of star fish. One sailor has documented a massive “dead zone” out 2,000 miles from Fukushima. Impacts on humans have already been documented in California and elsewhere.

Without global intervention, long-lived isotopes from Fukushima will continue to pour into the biosphere for decades to come.

The only power now being produced at Fukushima comes from a massive new windmill just recently installed offshore.

Amidst a disaster it can’t handle, the Japanese government is still pushing to re-open the 50 reactors forced shut since the melt-downs. It wants to avoid public fallout amidst a terrified population, and on the 2020 Olympics, scheduled for a Tokyo region now laced with radioactive hot spots. At least one on-site camera has stopped functioning. The government has also apparently stopped helicopter-based radiation monitoring.

A year ago a Japanese professor was detained 20 days without trial for speaking out against the open-air incineration of radioactive waste.

Now Prime Minister Abe can do far worse. The Times of India reports that the State Secrets Act is unpopular, and that Abe’s approval ratings have dropped with its passage.

But the new law may make Japan’s democracy a relic of its pre-Fukushima past.

It’s the cancerous mark of a nuclear regime bound to control all knowledge of a lethal global catastrophe now ceaselessly escalating.

Government takes another stab at unpopular 'conspiracy' legislation

The government is seeking to rejuvenate decade-old legislation to make the act of “conspiracy” a punishable crime, even if no criminal act has been committed.

Asahi Shimbun,

12 December, 2013

Word of the move sparked revived criticism that such a law could lead to prosecution against civil advocacy groups for the mere act of communicating. Even members of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration questioned the need for a conspiracy law.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Dec. 11 that government would not try to advance the measure during the next Diet session, which starts in January.

But government officials say the legislation is needed in part to bolster police powers to fight terrorism before Tokyo hosts the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. The event will draw huge crowds from around the world and is seen as an inviting target for terrorists.

The legislation is also seen as a key law enforcement tool to fight organized crime. It would penalize mere complicity in plots to commit serious criminal acts in an “organized” way as part of “activities of a group.”

“Conspiracy legislation is a necessity from a global perspective in the light of the (United Nations) Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime," a senior government official said Dec. 11. “We have always been discussing the issue, which is an international requisite.”

The Diet has voted in favor of signing the U.N. convention, which was adopted by the world body in 2000. However, Japan says it needs its own domestic law covering acts of conspiracy before it can sign the convention.

Bills to strengthen current laws have been submitted on three occasions to the Diet since 2003. But protests by the general public and opposition parties have forced lawmakers to abandon the legislation each time.

The legislation would criminalize acts of conspiracy regarding more than 600 types of crimes, even if they have not been committed. Critics are also concerned over potential abuse of the law by authorities.

The Abe administration came under heavy fire for steamrolling the state secrets protection bill through the Diet earlier this month. The approval ratings for Abe’s Cabinet dropped across the board in surveys conducted by various media organizations after the law was enacted.

That led the prime minister’s office to reject calls by some in his administration to submit a conspiracy bill, or a set of bills to amend related laws, during the next Diet session. The Abe administration instead plans to take its time to discuss the issue and lay out its argument for the conspiracy legislation.

But criticism runs deep.

“The state secrets protection law, conspiracy legislation and the wiretapping law are all part of a single package,” said lawyer Yuichi Kaido. “Once the conspiracy legislation is enacted, the government could next seek to expand the law to allow wiretapping to clamp down on conspiracy.”

Yoshitomo Ode, a Tokyo Keizai University professor and an expert in the Criminal Procedure Law, also voiced concerns.

“Making uncommitted acts of crime eligible for punishment would very likely engender false charges in a manner that is expedient to investigative authorities,” Ode said.

Even an aide to Abe said Japan does not need conspiracy legislation.

“We have to strive to let foreigners know that Japan is such a safe and secure country,” the aide said.

A senior administration official said, “I believe the state secrets protection law is necessary, but conspiracy legislation would have a more direct impact on the general public.”

The Liberal Democratic Party’s platform for the December 2012 Lower House election made no direct mention of conspiracy legislation.

The only reference that can be construed as similar stated, “We will bolster measures to fight organized crime, including crackdowns on cross-border crime rings.”

Abe passes secrecy bill

Japan Secures Final Passage Of Secrecy Bill - Designed by Kafka & Inspired By Hitler?!!

Zero Hedge,

6 November, 2013

Shinzo Abe secured final passage of a bill granting Japan’s govt sweeping powers to declare state secrets. The Bill won final approval of the measures at about 11:20 p.m. Tokyo time after opposition parties first forced a no-confidence vote in Abe’s govt in the lower house. The first rule of the pending Japan’s Special Secrets Bill is that what will be a secret is secret. The right to know has now been officially superseded by the right of the government to make sure you don’t know what they don’t want you to know. It might all seems like a bad joke, except for the Orwellian nature of the bill and a key Cabinet member expressing his admiration for the Nazis, "just as Germany needed a strong man like Hitler to revive defeated Germany, Japan needs people like Abe to dynamically induce change." 

Submitted by Subcultureist of Japan's Subculture Research Center blog,

The first rule of the pending Japan’s Special Secrets Bill is that what will be a secret is secret. The second rule is that anyone who leaks a secret and a reporter who writes it up can face up to ten years in jail. The third rule is that there are no rules at to what government agency can declare state secrets and no checks on them to determine they don’t misuse the privilege; even of no longer existent agencies may have the power to declare their information secret. The fourth rule  is that anything pertaining to nuclear energy is of course a state secret so there will not longer be any problem with nuclear power in this country because we won’t know anything about it. And what we don’t know can’t hurt us.

The right to know has now been officially superseded by the right of the government to make sure you don’t know what they don’t want you to know.

Legal experts note that even asking pointed questions about a state secret, whether you know or don’t know it’s a secret, could be treated as “instigating leaks” and the result in an arrest and a possible jail term up to five years. Of course, the trial would be complicated since the judge would not be allowed to know what secret the accused was suspected of trying to obtain.

Ask the wrong question, five years in jail. 

And of course, trials about state secrets, would by the nature of the law, also be secret trials and closed to the public.

At this point in time, no one has really claimed authorship of the secrecy bill. The author is a secret. Kafka would seem the most likely scrivener for this perplexing legislation, if he was still alive, but ruling coalition members acknowledge that another famous white man from the past may have provided the real inspiration for the bill and its implementation.

An Upper House member of the Diet said on background to JSRC, “Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro sort of telegraphed the punches of the administration by expressing his admiration for how the Nazi Party forcefully changed the German constitution this summer.

Obviously, we’re not Nazis in Japan–because we hardly have any Jews, but we are like the defeated post World War I Germany in that we do not have the right to wage war to defend ourselves from our enemies. Just as Germany needed a strong man like Hitler to revive defeated Germany, Japan needs people like Abe to dynamically induce change.”

Whistleblowers and journalist face up to ten years in jail for exposing anything the Japanese government declares “a special secret.” And what is a “special secret”–that is also secret.

In August this year, Aso Taro, who is also the Finance Minister stated at a seminar, “Germany’s Weimar Constitution was changed into the Nazi Constitution before anyone knew. It was changed before anyone else noticed. Why don’t we learn from that method?”

It’s obvious that the Abe administration which pushed this bill into the Diet without public hearings and even the standard deliberations with Japan’s legal establishment has been an apt pupil of their German predecessors. They even attempted to pass the bill in the middle of the night yesterday while most of Japan was sleeping. The administration hasn’t been able to set a fire to the Diet building to justify a harsher crackdown but the LDP Secretary General was kind enough to say that those noisily protesting the bill were committing “terrorist acts.”

The hawkish Prime Minister Abe has publicly stated his ambition to revise Japan’s constitution to rid it of Article 9, which forbids Japan from waging war. Upper house Diet member, Taro Yamamoto and others have publicly stated they believe the current bill is a stepping-stone to recreate a fascist Japan, as it existed prior to the Second World War.

It might all seems like a bad joke, except for the Orwellian nature of the bill being proposed and a key Cabinet member expressing his admiration for the Nazis.

Japan passes a democracy-muzzling Patriot Act

SEOUL, South Korea — Asia's rapidly mounting tensions just helped deliver a blow against democracy, with the Obama administration's backing.

Global Post,

6 December, 2013

The context: In late November, Chinadeclared an “air defense identification zone” in airspace over the disputed Senkaku (Diaoyu to China) islands, whichJapan controls. On Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden raised hackles over this provocative step with Chinese president Xi Jinping, in what he called a “very direct” meeting.

China’s move was arguably intended to test Japan’s mettle.

Ironically, it is helping Japan’s right-wing prime minister, Shinzo Abe, advance his quest for a more muscular Japan.

Abe’s party sailed to electoral victory on platform that included revising the constitution, to undo a post-World War II policy of pacifism and allow the country to raise a standing army.

They haven’t yet succeeded in doing that. But in a rare late-night parliament vote Friday night, they achieved another key goal by passing a controversial security measure: the Bill on the Protection of State Secrets — essentially Japan’s version of the USA PATRIOT Act.

The Obama administration, which has long complained of intelligence leaks in Japan, supported the bill.

The absence of a wider-reaching bill had made Japan’s pursuit of whistleblowers somewhat lax compared to its neighbors, hampering intelligence-sharing efforts, backers argue. They also contend that Japan needs a centralized statute to prosecute state secret leakers; it had relied on separate laws applying to civil servants and national defense service members.

Although protests are far from common in Japan, thousands of demonstrators amassed outside parliament this week. Many fear the government is steamrolling whistleblowers and free speech in pursuit of a stronger alliance with its mighty ally.

They claim the text is poorly written, and has been pushed through hastily and secretively. “The government has not said exactly what will become secret,” explains Aki Wakabayashi, director of Transparency International Japan, and a whistleblower who once exposed lavish government trips paid out of a secret national security budget. “So the law could allow the government to withhold more information and ultimately undermine Japan’s democracy.”

Here are four disturbing ways the bill could be a democracy muzzler.

It defines terrorism as imposing one’s opinions on others.

On November 29, ruling party lawmaker Shigeru Ishiba lashed out at demonstrations near the Diet building in Tokyo, writing in his blog that protesting the bill is “seems not so different” from an act of terrorism.

Ishiba quickly retracted his statement. But his vitriol outraged critics, who raised fears about the obfuscated and strangely targeted definition of “terrorism” in the bill. According to Article 12, terrorism is partially defined as an activity that forces “political and other principles or opinions on the state or other people.”

In other words, throw up a rowdy anti-government protest, and the judiciary can find a reason to lock you away.

It criminalizes investigative journalism

Journalists can be prosecuted for “improperly accessing” classified documents or “conspiring” to leak them.

Even asking an official to take a look at classified documents could constitute “conspiracy,” leading to up to five years in prison. “Instigating” the release of government secrets, meanwhile, carries up to 10 years in the dock.

The government denies this, proclaiming that free speech will continue to be protected under the Constitution. It has also incorporated hazy safeguards, including a line in the bill that agencies must “take into consideration” human rights and freedom of the press.

But what exactly does that mean? Protestors aren’t reassured.

Basically, anything can be a secret

The act gives heads of government agencies near-total power over classifying state secrets under four categories: diplomacy, defense, counterintelligence and counterterrorism.

The problem is, administrators can make the opaque decisions to classify a document even if their work hardly relates to national security. That effectively allows them to hide any embarrassing piece of evidence, and then pursue the journalists and bloggers who make it public.

The act may conflict with the freedom of information law.

It’s unclear how the act will impact the 1999 freedom of information law, which grants citizens the right to request disclosures and lays out the government’s responsibilities in doing so.

In all likelihood, officials will probably use the state secrets bill to refuse requests, acting in line with the freedom of information law’s broad exemptions for releases that could harm national security or public order, writes Joel Rheuben, a Japanese law specialist.

Is democracy under threat in Japan? Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has agreed to set up an agency that would monitor the information that’s made secret. But that’s only a promise, not a provision actually included in the bill — the sort of vagueness that critics are going after in the first place.

More on Japanese secrecy Bill

Japan Official: “This is the way the reign of terror begins!”

— Lawmaker is “physically restrained”; Outrage as secrets bill rammed through — Final passage expected within hours

ENENews,

5 December, 2013,

The Guardian, Dec. 5, 2013: Whistleblowers and journalists in Japan could soon find themselves facing long spells in prison for divulging and reporting state secrets, possibly including sensitive information about the Fukushima nuclear disaster [...] “It is a threat to democracy,” said Keiichi Kiriyama, an editorial writer for the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper [...] “it can be used to hide whatever the government wishes to keep away from public scrutiny,” said Mizuho Fukushima, an opposition MP. [...] justice minister, Sadakazu Tanigaki, refused to rule out police raids of newspapers suspected of breaking the law.

The Japan Times, 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. The chairman of the committee abruptly motioned for a vote on the bill, and ruling bloc lawmakers voted, while opposition lawmakers tried to block it by surrounding and shouting at him. “The committee chairman did not even mention that they will vote on it when we had a meeting before the session,” said Tetsuro Fukuyama, an Upper House member of the committee from the Democratic Party of Japan. “They again leveraged on the power of numbers. I am beyond angry.”

Wall St. Journal, Dec. 5, 2013: [...] the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe [succeeded in] railroading a controversial state intelligence bill through a parliamentary debate Thursday. [...] In ramming the draft legislation through a special committee on national security, Mr. Abe made abundantly clear he was willing to use the force of greater numbers [...] Thursday’s ruckus in the security committee, widely broadcast on the evening television news, hardly gave the impression of a united opposition tackling an overreaching government, or a patient administration with a sympathetic ear to opposition concerns. “It’s making a mockery of parliament,” said DPJ lawmaker Tetsuro Fukuyama [...]

Xinhua, Dec. 5, 2013: [...] so outraged was opposition  in the committee meeting Thursday, that [lawmaker Hirokazu Shiba] rose from his seat and shouted “This is the way the reign of terror begins!” His fervor led to his fellow lawmakers having to physically restrain Shiba, as tensions in the meeting reached fever pitch. Meanwhile, protests comprising more than 7,000 demonstrators continued around the Diet building, mobilized by civic groups, unions and concerned individuals, following similar scenes Wednesday that saw more than 6,000 anti-secrecy law opponents march around the Diet building hand-in-hand.

Variety, Dec. 5, 2013: The film industry worries that not only might the legislation help the government cover up embarrassing situations – like the mismanagement at electricity generator TEPCO whose nuclear reactor at Fukushima melted down after the tsunami – but that film-makers may once again be required to produce propaganda movies.

See also: Insiders: State secrets bill meant to suppress Fukushima news -- Japan public stunned as citizens could face years in prison -- Man's mouth "stuffed with cloth" after voicing opposition -- Toxic leaks into ocean seem unstoppable, gov't must plug the information instead (PHOTO)

Japan whistleblowers face crackdown under proposed state secrets law

Officials who leak 'special state secrets' and journalists who seek to obtain them could face prison if bill is approved this week

the Guardian,

5 December, 2013,

Whistleblowers and journalists in Japan could soon find themselves facing long spells in prison for divulging and reporting state secrets, possibly including sensitive information about the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the country's souring relations with China.

Under a special state secrets bill expected to pass on Friday, public officials and private citizens who leak "special state secrets" face prison terms of up to 10 years, while journalists who seek to obtain the classified information could get up to five years.

Critics of the new law say it marks a return to the days of prewar and wartime Japanese militarism, when the state used the Peace Preservation Act to arrest and imprison political opponents.

"It is a threat to democracy," said Keiichi Kiriyama, an editorial writer for the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper, adding that the legislation would "have a chilling effect on public servants, who could become wary about giving the information" to journalists.

In the aftermath of the Edward Snowden leaks, Japan has come under pressure from Washington to better protect state secrets – including intelligence shared by the US – at a time of rising regional tensions.

Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, says the law is crucial if his US-style national security council, approved this week, is to function properly.

The law is seen as part of his conservative project to bolster Japan's security in response to escalating tensions with China and concern over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

The state minister in charge of the bill has denied that it would affect the release of information about radiation leaks at Fukushima Daiichi. Photograph: Kyodo/Reuters

Abe, who does not have to fight an election for another three years, is expected to push ahead with his nationalist agenda, including constitutional reforms that would end the military's purely defensive role.

The secrecy bill's hasty passage through the lower house has been marked by noisy public demonstrations and opposition from journalists, lawyers, politicians, academics and scientists, as well as film directors and manga artists concerned about freedom of expression.

They say the prospect of prison terms will deter whistleblowers from leaking sensitive or embarrassing information in the public interest, and journalists from trying to obtain it.

The upper house of Japan's parliament is expected to approve the bill before the end of the current parliamentary session on Friday, possibly later on Thursday.

The chief criticism of the bill is its vague definition of what constitutes a state secret, potentially giving officials carte blanche to block the release of information on a vast range of subjects, including measures to counterbalance China's growing military influence in the region, and the safety of the country's nuclear reactors.

"There are few specifics in the law, which means it can be used to hide whatever the government wishes to keep away from public scrutiny," said Mizuho Fukushima, an opposition MP.

"In its current form, the prime minister can decide by himself what constitutes a secret."

The law would apply to four areas – defence, diplomacy, counter-terrorism and counter-espionage – and gives officials the power to keep sensitive information out of the public domain indefinitely.

Senior politicians insist the law will not be used to gag the press or restrict the public's right to know.

But the justice minister, Sadakazu Tanigaki, refused to rule out police raids of newspapers suspected of breaking the law.

Masako Mori, the state minister in charge of the bill, said the law could be applied to Japan's nuclear power industry, because it is a potential target for terrorists. But she denied the legislation would affect the release of information about radiation leaks at Fukushima Daiichi.

Last week, the secretary general of the governing Liberal Democratic party, Shigeru Ishiba, angered many when he likened people protesting against the bill to terrorists. He later apologised for the remarks.

"There is a demand by the established political forces for greater control over the people," said Lawrence Repeta, a law professor at Meiji University. "This fits with the notion that the state should have broad authority to act in secret. It seems very clear that the law would have a chilling effect on journalism in Japan."

Widespread opposition to the law is testing Abe's popularity. A recent poll by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper found public support for Abe has dropped to below 50% for the first time since he took office last December. More than 60% of those polled expressed concern that the bill was being rushed into law.

In response, Abe this week attempted to dismiss claims that officials would abuse the law to prevent the disclosure of information that is in the public interest. "There is a misunderstanding," he said. "It is obvious that normal reporting activity of journalists must not be a subject to punishment."

Abe said the government would set clearer definitions of state secrets and appoint a third party to oversee possible violations. Critics point out that the proposed body, comprising senior officials from the foreign and defence ministries and the national police agency, is far from independent.

"What we need is a third party, not a quasi-third-party system that can check," said Banri Kaieda, leader of the main opposition Democratic party of Japan. "I can say with certainty now that the bill is created by bureaucrats for the bureaucrats to hide information."

The prospect of harsh penalties for Snowden-style whistleblowers and their reporter associates has prompted concern outside Japan. Reporters Without Borders accused Japan of "making investigative journalism illegal".

It said in a statement: "How can the government respond to growing demands for transparency from a public outraged by the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear accident if it enacts a law that gives it a free hand to classify any information considered too sensitive as a state secret?"

Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, accused Japan's government of imposing the legislation with little public debate. "They should not rush through the law without first putting in proper safeguards for access of information and freedom of expression as guaranteed in Japan's constitution and international human rights law," she said.

The law reflects a decline in Japan's standing as a protector of the free press. In the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index for 2013, it dropped 31 places from 2012 to a new low of 53rd out of 179 countries.

To view articles from the JT on the secrecy Bill GO HERE