Japan Protesters Defend Constitution
Thousands of protesters flooded the streets outside Japan’s Diet in Tokyo on Wednesday, rallying to defend the country’s pacifist Constitution and denounce Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s push towards greater militarisation.
Footage shows demonstrators waving colourful penlights outside parliament, chanting ‘Takaichi Out’ and holding placards including ‘Stop playing war’.
“Measures that politicians had previously treated as taboo and that no one had dared to touch are being passed one after another, and the pace of this change is extremely rapid,” one protester warned.
“We finally have a female Prime Minister, yet I am terrified that this situation might tarnish the image of women; I am constantly anxious,” added a second.
Organisers said 15,000 people joined the Tokyo rally, with coordinated street protests staged at 288 locations across Japan. Footage from outside the Diet was also streamed online nationwide.
Anti-War Rallies Grow
The demonstration was part of the regular ’19th Day Action’, held every month by groups including the All-Out Action Committee and the National Citizens’ Action Against Article 9 Constitutional Revision.
Similar rallies in recent months have drawn thousands opposing constitutional revision and Japan’s expanding military preparations.
Organisers also took aim at Takaichi over her August 15 address at the National Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead, accusing Japan of ‘accelerating its shift toward becoming a nation capable of waging war’ and calling for more people to take to the streets.
Article 9 Debate Continues
Takaichi did not use the word ‘remorse’ in the address, after former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba restored the expression to the ceremony last year for the first time in 13 years.
Her speech nevertheless pledged that Japan would “never allow the tragedy of war to be repeated” and said the country had consistently pursued peace since the end of the Second World War.
The protests come as anti-war and constitutional groups step up opposition to changes to Japan’s post-war order. Article 9 renounces war and restricts the use of military force.
Article by Viory
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