JIP Secretary General Denies Responsibility on Menace Case

Harajuku Police Station of Metropolitan Police Department sent a case of menace on a journalist for the newspaper of Japan Communist Party (JIP), Akahata, to the public prosecutors’ office on May 13th. A worker of a construction firm is suspected that he blackmailed the journalist indicating a damage. The suspect argues that he was motivated by a post on X in which Secretary General of Japan Innovation Party, Fumitake Fujita, exposed a name card of the journalist. 

The worker for construction firm is suspected to threaten the journalist by posting to X on November 5th, 2025. “You getting carried away need to be careful about your front and back or right and left not to be stubbed, since your face has been exposed,” posted the suspect. He admitted the suspicion on him and is reported as confessed that he hoped to get rid of his mental stress. How can this posting get rid of his stress?

 

Akahata scooped last October that Fujita was involved in a scandal in which he had spent subsidized fund provided to JIP for a company run by his government-paid secretary. A law prohibits a government-paid secretary to have a side business. The subsidy used for the secretary was funded by national budget, or taxed money. Total spendings for the secretary’s company was 20 million yen. It was explained that the money was spent for printing flyers.

 

As he denied illegality of his use of fund, Fujita announced that he would stop paying for his secretary’s company. Fujita made that announcement on his account of X and he uploaded a name card of the writer of Akahata. Akahata strongly opposed Fujita’s disclose of private information of its writer, including name, affiliation, telephone number, fax number and a part of email address, as use of personal information out of designated purpose. The newspaper demanded Fujita to delete the posting and apology.

 

The suspect quoted the information disclosed by Fujita. JCP made an accusation against the suspect in November and he appeared to the police. Blackmailing through a posting in X can make a crime, but the point is whether Fujita’s disclosure of personal information of a journalist would be inappropriate or not. Fujita argued that his posting did not induce the suspect’s menace.

 

However, the reason why disclosure of privacy of a journalist may be problematic is that it would make attacking on the journalist easier. This kind of activity on SNS which brings a specific action of viewers is sometimes called “dog whistle.” Some experts recognize Fujita’s disclosure as a dog whistling to let the viewers make action against Akahata. Fujita’s JIP at far right and JCP embracing leftist platform have been opposing each other for years. But Fujita’s posting may erode freedom of press in Japan.

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