Incarceration of Left-wing Japanese Newspaper Editor Sparks Fears of Threat to Free Speech

On November 21, in the Hyogo prefecture of Kansai region of Japan's main island, Honshu, police raided the office of Jimmin Shimbun (The People’s News), one of Japan's most established left-wing newspapers, and arrested Yamada Yoichi, the editor-in-chief, on suspicion of fraud. He was then formally indicted on December 12. As of December 28, Yamada remains detained by Hyogo police.

The raid has stoked fears that a contentious, vaguely-defined new ‘conspiracy law’ is being used to stifle freedom of expression, and also highlights a still-vibrant left-wing political scene in Japan with links to radical groups from the 1960s and 1970s.

In an official statement published on its website, the newspaper said that the raid involved over twenty officers who refused to show a warrant and questioned residents in the building where the newspaper operates. Jimmin Shimbun reported that all of its computers were seized, along with other documents, and that the editor's residence along with two other locations in Tokyo were also raided.