"Anti-Japan" Yasukuni film canceled.

Apparently, right-wing nutjobs were threatening theaters which planned to show the film. The nutjobs have a lot of power in this way in Japan. Recently, they were able stop a hotel from hosting an event by the teacher's union. They have been known to get radio talk shows "censored" and likely much more.

[A spokesman] said Humax canceled showings at one theater after callers threatened the company. He refused to detail the threats.

"I personally think the decision is regrettable. I don't think the movie is anti-Japanese,"...

Where are the police? Perhaps they consider the nutjobs actions free speech. They obviously don't take it seriously enough to take effective counter measures.

(Interesting story concerning this at Global Voices here---the translated comments are especially enlightening---and from Yahoo here.)

One of the arguments against this film is the use of tax money. Many believe that Japanese tax money should not be used for anything critical of Japan, apparently. This is a great argument: Japanese money should only support official government views--or official rightist views. The head of NHK recently suggested that NHK overseas programs only provide the views of the government, AKA propaganda. (Are you one of the few paying NHK monthly fees?)