What Exactly Is Freedom of Expression?

Article 21 of Japan's constitution prohibits censorship and protects freedom of “speech, press, and all other forms of expression,” as well as the “secrecy of any means of communication.”

It's been a rough few days at an international arts festival that opened in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, on Aug. 1. People including Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura are asking to remove some of the exhibits that may have deep association with Japan's history or politics. The exhibition has received some fax messages that danger people's lives

"Comfort Women" Statue (pic 1)
It represents Korean (and Japanese) women who were raped by Japanese soldiers during the World War 2.

Kawamura made the demand in a letter of protest he sent on Aug. 2 to Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura, who heads the festival organizing committee. The Agency for Cultural Affairs, which supports the festival, has suggested it will carefully consider whether to grant subsidies for the event saying, "It's necessary to closely examine the exhibits."

The decision comes at a time when diplomatic ties between Japan and South Korea have fallen to arguably the lowest level since they were normalized in 1965, amid disputes over wartime history and trade policy. (The Japan Times)

The couple artists of the statue leaves a comment "This is not a symbol of anti-Japanese, it's for world peace."


Warning: Falling the United States

"The title of this work is a pun of the road sign “falling rock.” With a history of more than seven decades, the US military bases in Okinawa has become an everyday affair. However, a crashing of the US air-force is different from a falling rock, and is a man-caused accident. By making a comparison with a natural phenomenon and by presenting the work as a graffiti drew on a shutter, the work questions what the accident means as a public message." says the artist, Mitsuhiro Okamoto. (The official website)

This work got abandoned by an exhibition done in Okinawa, two years ago in 2017.


 “K -who works in the kitchen- gave this candy to the Japanese manager of a Hong Kong style Chinese restaurant where I work, who gave it to me saying “I don’t eat Chinese anyway”.”

Sourses: https://www.huffingtonpost.jp/entry/aichitriennale-report_jp_5d43c7eae4b0ca604e2fb0fe?t3l, https://censorship.social/, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/08/03/national/protests-may-see-comfort-women-statue-removed-japanese-art-event-aichi/#.XUfvHJMza9Y, https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190803/p2a/00m/0na/005000c


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