Demonstrations in over 60 cities. Approximately 6,500 young people gathered in Tokyo. Protest organized by Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy-s. Youth are opposed to the amendment of Article 9 of the Constitution which rearms the country. Kyoto Professor : "Japan is at a turning point thanks to the growing opposition of the young".

Tokyo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Thousands of young Japanese took to the streets yesterday in more than 60 cities to protest against the controversial National Security Law that, "interpreting" Article 9 of the Constitution, will abolish the nation’s de facto pacifism.

But despite the majority of the Japanese population recently speaking out against a ‘bellicose’ reform of the fundamental charter, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is determined to approve the change during the current session of the Diet.

Tatsuru Uchida, a professor of 64, speaking at an event in Kyoto, said that "Japan is at a turning point", because more and more young people are demonstrating against the law that cancels the pacifist tradition in the country.

Yesterday throughout the country several demonstrations were held in response to a summons by Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy-s (SEALDs). In the capital alone some 6,500 protesters marched in the popular shopping district of Shibuya, chanting slogans like "No to war" and "No to changing the law."

The law in question is the controversial draft law on national security, being considered by the upper house of the Diet. In July 2014, the Abe government – which counts on a solid majority – proposed a constitutional amendment to art. 9 that would authorize the military to operate independently and aggressively. Since the end of World War II in fact, that article had established the "non- aggression" clause of the Japanese Army, transforming it into a “self-defense" force that can only lead humanitarian operations in international interventions.

In May, the change in the law was approved by the government and also by the lower house in July, despite the various voices of protest. Jinshiro Motoyama, a student of 23 and member of Ryukyu SEALDs, explains how his grandparents - witnesses of atrocities Second World War conflict during the last battle of Okinawa - "taught me the inestimable value of human life".

 

• Japan
• youth
• demonstration
• constitutional
• reform
• pacifist
• army