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Greetings!
Several
articles in this issue probe the question of state power versus the rights
of citizens to question that power.
Morton H. Halperin and Molly Hofsommer of the Open Society
Institutes examine Japan's "Specially Designated Secrets Protection
Act". They are concerned both with the process that led to its
adoption in late 2013 and its eventual form. Drafted in secret, passed
hastily and virtually without debate, the law is seen as more than the
unfortunate result of an impotent legislature, but a symbol of Japan's
growing isolation from the international community. The law is assessed in
the light of the Tshwane Principles, which address the balance between
national security and citizens' right to information. They see the Abe
administration's reluctance to engage in international dialogue about
these issues as a rejection of the international community itself.
Jeff
Kingston and Asano Ken'ichi report on the
suppression by NHK and much of Japan's mass media of the attempted
self-immolation of a Japanese citizen protesting against the Abe
administration's Constitutional coup, a new collective self-defense policy
that further undermines Article 9. To what extent has the new secrecy act
handcuffed the media?
Brian
Daizen Victoria translates and introduces an article by Narusawa
Muneo on the rare act by Buddhist priest Takenaka Shōgen (1867-1945), who
opposed the invasion of China in 1937, proclaiming that "war is a
crime."
Victoria
probes another wartime case in his stufy ofSōka Gakkai founder Makiguchi
Tsunesaburou (1871-1944), who died while imprisoned for his religious
beliefs. The religious movement, formed in 1930 as an offshoot of the
Nichiren sect, now officially opposes the war, but through exhaustive
investigation Victoria comes to question Makiguchi's dedication to peace.
He also notes the failure of Sōka Gakkai as part of the ruling
coalition with the LDP to challenge new developments towards collective
self-defense.
In
the aftermath of urban firebombing, and Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Sahr
Conway-Lanz analyzes the question of targeting civilians on the
part of the American military during the Korean War. While some historians
have claimed that the massive killing of civilians during World War II
marked the end of the taboo against it, the paper examines continuing
debates within the military over such attacks. Conway-Lanz demonstrates the
persistence of the view that intentional civilian death is a crime, arguing
that it influenced the later establishment of international laws prohibiting
it. The question nevertheless remains whether that body of law has acted as
a restraint on US bombing in subsequent wars.
Christopher
Gerteis concludes his Visualizing Cultures contribution on the
history of political protest in interwar Japan. This is a "topical
gallery" which presents a selection of early Shōwa posters and
handbills from the collection of the Ohara Institute for Social Research at
Hosei University.
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