Japan has had some serious issues with leaks over the past two years and eight months or so, what with three melted-through nuclear power reactors and 4 reactor buildings blasted to smithereens, leaving 4 overstuffed Spent Fuel Pools precariously dangling 100 feet up in the air. Groundwater and coolant water that has been in contact with molten cores somewhere south of the basements is leaking to the tune of 400 metric tons per day into the Pacific Ocean. There is no consensus on what might stop or at least seriously diminish the leaks, and the world is concerned.
So, what does the responsible national government do when faced with such an unthinkable situation? Why, it passes a draconian "State Secrets" law to prevent civil servants, whistleblowers, journalists and citizens from talking about unpleasant things, of course.
The excuse is, as always, 'National Security' and the efforts of PM Shinzo Abe to strengthen Japan's role in the new 'global security' market. Abe insists the new law is all about protecting the safety of the people against the threat of being informed about things related to defense, diplomacy, counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism. The punishment for revealing secrets about TPP negotiations, melting/exploding nuclear plants and such is now 10 years in prison.
Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party says that the United States has repeatedly "felt insecure" about sharing secret information with Japan, and Washington applauded the new law. U.S. Charge d'Affairs Kurt Tong announced, "It's a positive step that would make Japan a "more effective alliance partner."
Conversely, Taro Yamamoto, a lawmaker in Japan's upper house of parliament, said at a Tokyo press conference...
This secrecy law represents a coup d'etat by a particular group of politicians and bureaucrats.
Yamamoto went on to say that the withholding of radiation data after the Fukushima disaster showed the Japanese government was predisposed to hiding information from its citizens and this law would only make things worse. The Asahi Shimbun newspaper compared the new law to "conspiracy" regulations in pre-war Japan and said it could be used to prevent access to facts on nuclear accidents. As if access to facts about nuclear accidents were ever easy, anywhere in the world.
The public comment process in September demonstrated that 77% of the Japanese public opposed the legislation. Which, of course, doesn't mean anything to the Japanese government because... um... Olympics, TPP and the Brave New World and and such.
Just a heads-up on fun developments in Japan, where frustration about the unstoppable leaks at Fukushima Daiichi has not stopped the Japanese government from stopping leaks about those leaks (and a host of other things).