Opinion: Yasukuni Doc Should be Leaked onto the Internet

Hi Blog,

Recently, it seems like every day-- multiple times of day, even-- when I hit my usual news sites and clear out my RSS reader, there are more and more articles about the whirlpool of controversy and bullshit engulfing Li Ying's YASUKUNI documentary.

I have to say, that those conservatives who are handicapping the release of this film and are stifling the very right to free speech and expression in Japan are in violation of the basic freedoms guaranteed under Article 21 of the Japanese consitution:

Article 21.Freedom of assembly and association as well as speech, press and all other forms of expression are guaranteed.
(2) No censorship shall be maintained, nor shall the secrecy of any means of communication be violated. (Link.)

My anger surrounding this has everything to do with my belief that if the pro-censorship nationalists and conservatives win here, then I believe that Japan's constitution, and by proxy, the social freedoms it guarantees will be severely compromised.

But I have a simple solution to this problem. Argo pictures should just eat the loss and leak the film to the Internet-- once the genie's out of the bottle the enemies of this film can stew in it. I say, put it up on YouTube in sections; let people download it via Bittorrent; put it up on iTunes and charge for it! Hell, there's NO need to even do subtitles, let translators around the world do it for you.

The point is, the film can't be resigned to a traditional death and burial at the hands of those who have an agenda antithetical to the will of the country and the people. It's that simple. That's my unsolicited opinion.

Link.
Yet another link.

Yasukuni

Hi Blog,

I haven't had any time to write about the documentary YASUKUNI, by Japan based Chinese ex-pat Li Ying, and the controversy that is swarming around it but fortunately people who are much smarter and more articulate than me have!

Because I think this is important, I'm including a link to a great article about the film, that also includes an interview with Li Ying. The link can be found below.

In the meantime, here's what you need to know:

• There's a major freedom of speech issue that has developed as a result of this documentary. Nationalists and conservatives both within and outside of the LDP have decried the film as a Chinese campaign to discredit Japan, and by proxy, the Emperor.
• At issue: Movie theaters around Japan that had agreed to screen the film have backed out at the last minute citing safety and security issues that might arise out of the inevitable [violent?] protests by Japanese nationalists.
• Defenders of the film and those who believe in the constitutional right to free expression claim that it is a well orchestrated campaign by conservative LDP leaders in cahoots with nationalist groups (that act as their strong arms) to stifle diverse and free expression in Japan. Critics claim that it represents an abuse of public arts funds to support what they believe to be essentially anti-Japanese film.
• What the real issue is: Freedom of expression in Japan. With recent political trends there are questions about whether basic civil liberties are being compromised -- or destroyed -- in Japan by members of the LDP... Certainly things there have become much more difficult recently for foreign nationals.

At any rate, at the Japan Focus e-journal David McNeill and John Junkerman have assembled a very good article and interview with Li Ying about the documentary YASUKUNI and the issues surrounding it. It is recommended reading. Link.