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Shinzo Abe’s long tenure as prime minister of Japan is notable for many reasons, but perhaps his most enduring achievements were made in the Diet where he led colleagues in passing several highly controversial bills sure to have an impact for many years to come.

In its more than 70-year history, Japan’s supreme court has never ruled that the police or any other agency of government has violated the constitutionally protected right to free speech. In a case decided recently, the court had the opportunity to break with precedent but once again sided with the government.

Why did I write a book about the Tachikawa Anti-War Leaflet Incident? If someone doesn't write a book about it, this incident will likely be forgotten.

Twenty years have passed since the Freedom of Information Act, which stipulates the public's right to request disclosure of government documents, came into force in 2001. It was hoped that this would lead to the realization of an open government, but there have been a series of cases in which the system has been flouted, such as the falsification of approval documents by the Ministry of Finance regarding Moritomo Gakuen and the short-term destruction of the guest list for the Cherry Blossom Viewing Party. [Interviewer: Akira Aoshima]

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, while governments in many countries issued mandatory lockdown orders backed by penalties for non-compliance, Japan’s did not.  International news organisations reported that Japan’s Constitution ‘would need to be amended to impose and enforce a lockdown’. The suggestion that effective action required constitutional change was no surprise. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been calling for change to the democratic Constitution since it was founded in 1955. One key proposal is the creation of an ‘emergency powers’ provision. But while the pandemic is a crisis that calls for emergency action, an effective response does not require constitutional change.

This article compares the United States, where top-secret investigative materials related to the Ghosn fugitive case can be easily accessed online as part of the court records, with Japan, where access to court records remains difficult and progress in disclosure has been slow. The article features interviews with Japanese and American experts, as well as with plaintiffs in the court memo trial, about open court cases and the right to know.