Rightist Threats Raise Fears in Japan
When ruling party lawmaker Koichi Kato criticized a prime minister’s trip to a Tokyo war shrine, retribution from Japan’s right-wing was swift: An extremist set his house on fire and tried to commit ritual suicide. It was the most dramatic in a string of attacks and threats over the past year that have academics, journalists and lawmakers worried that Japan’s freedom of expression is under assault by a resurgent nationalist fringe. Full Story