Japan’s ultra-conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has suggested he will visit a controversial shrine that includes war criminals along with the country’s venerated war dead.  Now, it appears he will push for legislation echoing at least some of their policies.

“There is a demand by the established political forces for greater control over the people,” said Lawrence Repeta, a law professor at Meiji University.  “This fits with the notion that the state should have broad authority to act in secret.”

Abe is planning a state secrets act that critics say could curtail public access to information on a wide range of issues.  That includes the contentious maritime disputes with China and the constant slew of radioactive releases from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear site.  Critics worry about journalists’ ability to expose official blunders and misdeeds, including the collusion between regulators and utilities that led to the 2011 triple melt-through.

"This may very well be Abe's true intention - cover-up of mistaken state actions regarding the Fukushima disaster and/or the necessity of nuclear power," said Sophia University political science professor Koichi Nakano.

Abe has long favored scrapping parts of the US-drafted, post-war constitution to stress citizen's duties over their civil rights, a more aggressive military, and an end to apologies for Japanese atrocities in World War II.