Readers invited to freedom of information forum

Tokyo American Center and The Japan Times will jointly present a lecture and discussion meeting on electronic freedom of information in the U.S. and its lessons for Japan on March 16, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Tokyo American Center in Shiba Koen, Minato-ku.

In this followup to the American Center-Japan Times seminar held in September on freedom of information, two American experts will present their views on the current situation in the U.S. The speakers are Daniel J. Metcalfe, codirector of the Office of Information and Privacy at the Department of Justice, and William Ferroggiaro, Freedom of Information Act coordinator for the nonprofit and nongovernmental National Security Archive.

The seminar, titled "Toward a More Open Society Part II: The U.S. Experience with Electronic Freedom of Information," will be moderated by Masao Horibe, professor of law at Chuo University. Simultaneous Japanese-English interpretation will be provided.

A Japanese FOIA bill is expected to be reintroduced to the Diet this spring while the government is increasing use of electronic information dissemination, prompting efforts to incorporate some EFOIA provisions into the proposed FOIA law. A brief reception, at which participants may meet the speakers and moderator, will follow the meeting.

Readers of The Japan Times interested in attending the forum should fax a completed application form, printed on Page 4 of today's paper, to the Tokyo American Center by March 13. For more information, call the center at (03) 3436-0904.