RE: A Change in Direction. Criticism in Japan

Below I wrote about a change in the focus of this blog and mentioned how criticism of Japan isn't always well-tolerated. Here is an article about a recent conviction of an Japanese elementary school teacher arrested and punished for handing out pamphlets to adults near a Japanese military base: http://japanfocus.org/article.asp?id=519

Were one in the US and such a thing happened ( which seems entirely possible nowadays), you could expect a lot of outrage and moral as well as legal support. Haven't seen any of that in Japan...