海角大神

The day after Japan鈥檚 parliament approved a聽controversial secrecy law,聽Prime聽Minister Shinzo Abe attempted聽to banish the mental clutter of governance with Zen meditation at a Tokyo temple.

After meditating, Mr. Abe said that the end of the bill鈥檚 stormy passage into law last week after days of angry protests 鈥渇elt as though a storm had passed.鈥�

But Abe鈥檚 sense of relief could turn out to have been premature. This week, his personal approval ratings went into free fall, as anger聽mounted over what many see as a high-handed attempt to muzzle聽potential whistleblowers and curtail the public鈥檚 right to know.

Under the new law, public officials found to have leaked information聽defined as a 鈥渟pecial state secret鈥� face up to 10 years in prison.聽Journalists who use 鈥済rossly inappropriate鈥� means to obtain sensitive聽information could be jailed for up to five years.聽

A poll by Kyodo News聽found that support for Abe's cabinet had sunk more than聽10 percentage points since the bill passed, to 47.6 percent, the first time it had fallen below 50 percent since he took office almost exactly a year ago. Even more devastating聽was another Kyodo poll in which 82 percent of respondents believed the law should be revised or abolished.

Abe and his supporters say the law is necessary because Japan faces growing threats to its security from the tense geopolitical environment in the Asia-Pacific, and has no rules for designating and preserving state secrets.

According to its critics, the legislation risks dragging Japan back聽into the prewar era, when governments used the draconian Peace聽Preservation Law to silence opponents of the country鈥檚 militarist聽adventures in mainland Asia.

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

Loose lips, and Edward Snowden

The law applies to four areas 鈥� defense, diplomacy, counterterrorism, and counterespionage 鈥� and gives senior officials from dozens of聽ministries and agencies the power to keep sensitive information out of聽the public domain for up to 60 years, and in some cases, indefinitely.

Abe insists the law is a non-negotiable accompaniment to his US-style聽National Security Council (NSC), approved days before the secrecy law聽passed.

Japan, the target of US criticism that it has let slip too many聽secrets in the past, has come under pressure to tighten its聽intelligence apparatus to enable the allies to share sensitive聽information amid mounting concern over Chinese territorial claims in聽the region and North Korea鈥檚 nuclear weapons program.

That need has taken on greater urgency, the thinking in Washington聽goes, in light of the intelligence leaks by former US National聽Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

鈥淸The law] has the effect of bringing Japan into line with the US聽model of how to run its intelligence services 鈥� placing them under the聽central control of the NSC,鈥� says David Murakami Wood, Canada research chair in surveillance studies at Queen鈥檚 University in Ontario, who has studied Japan's secrecy law. 聽

鈥淚t is about the closing down of government information, and this is聽where there is a Snowden connection.鈥�

Public demonstrations

The law鈥檚 passage was marked by noisy public demonstrations and聽opposition from journalists, lawyers, and politicians over the past two weeks. A group of聽academics called it the 鈥渓argest ever danger to democracy in postwar聽Japan," while opponents in the film industry included the revered聽animated-film director Hayao Miyazaki. One of their chief criticisms is the law鈥檚 catchall definition of what聽constitutes a state secret, giving officials license to block the聽release of information on a vaguely defined range of subjects.

Matters considered too sensitive for public consumption could include聽Japan鈥檚 response to China鈥檚 growing military assertiveness 鈥� particularly the countries鈥� rival claims to islands in the East China Sea 鈥� or the safety of Japan鈥檚 nuclear reactors.

鈥淭he definition of secrets is quite vague and any information which is聽not convenient for the government can be made secret,鈥� says Sanae聽Fujita at the human rights center and school of law at Essex聽University in England. 鈥淣o independent monitoring body has been set聽up, so the government can have extensive control of information.鈥�

Muddy water for journalists聽

The justice minister, Sadakazu Tanigaki, said police raids of聽newspapers suspected of breaking the law, raised fears that聽journalists, too, will be targeted.

Few were convinced by Abe鈥檚 attempts to dismiss claims that officials聽will abuse the law to shackle the media. 鈥淭here is a聽misunderstanding,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is obvious that normal reporting聽activity of journalists must not be a subject for punishment.鈥�

The second in command of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, Shigeru Ishiba, muddied the waters when he suggested that reporters could fall foul of the new law. His comments came days after he was forced to apologize for likening antisecrecy law demonstrators to terrorists.

A distraction from economic goals

As Abe prepares to mark a year in office, generally upbeat appraisals聽from overseas of his handling of the economy risk being overshadowed聽by disquiet over his apparent authoritarian tendencies.

In a statement, Reporters Without Borders accused his government of聽鈥渕aking investigative journalism illegal鈥� and enacting a law 鈥渢hat聽gives it a free hand to classify any information considered too聽sensitive鈥� as a state secret.

Fujita was even more scathing. 鈥淚t reminds us of what happened in聽Japan just before World War II,鈥� she said, adding that Dec. 6,聽the day the law passed, would be looked upon as one of national聽鈥渞egret and humiliation.鈥�