Disasters have an uncanny way of bringing out the best in humanity. In the aftermath of tragedy, compassion, understanding, compatibility, accommodation, and accord usually lead the way forward. That’s when remarkable people stand out in the face of adversity. Therefore, it is extraordinarily unfortunate that Japan’s government choses to dishonor its own citizenry as well as its lost heroes like Dr. Josh Park in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
In the aftermath of Japan’s worst tragedy since WWII, the government of Japan enacted The Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets, Act No. 108 promulgated on December 13, 2013. The law “almost limitlessly widens the range of what can be considered confidential,” Nobuyuki Sugiura, Managing Editor, Tokyo Head Office, Asahi Shimbun will continue to respond to the public’s right to know, The Asahi Shimbun, December 7, 2013.
Furthermore, according to the newspaper, Asahi Shimbun: “Every organization has information that it cannot make public. And Japan already had laws to protect such information,” which leads to the question: What’s going on? Did the Fukushima nuclear disaster open up the country to new foreign threats, similar to the raison d’etre for enactment of the Public Security Preservation Law of 1925, which gave the Japanese government carte blanche to outlaw any form of dissent. Thereafter, Japan established the “Thought Police” with branches all over Japan and overseas to monitor activity by alleged socialists and communists (in case you’ve ever wondered where George Orwell got his insane ideas).
After all, the new secrecy law allows bureaucrats and politicians to “designate state secrets to their liking” (Asahi Shimbun). What???
As such, the new secrecy law is 100% subjective, not objective, as the distinction of integrity crumbles apart. Those who leak secrets will face up to 10 years in prison. Does this foreboding message to the citizenry of Japan have anything to do with the Fukushima nuclear disaster? Why is it necessary? Why pass an act that promotes discord, suspicion, mistrust, and lack of confidence in public institutions at the very time when consolation is needed more than ever?