5,000 people rally to stop bills for Japan going to war

About 5,000 people rallied in Tokyo on April 19 to foil the contingency bills at the call of 20 trade unions of ground, sea, and air transport workers.

Hibiya Amphitheater, the rally site, had many union flags and was filled with people to overflowing.

The meeting, focused on a single issue: rejection of cooperation in wars. Putting aside differences of political beliefs, the rally brought together a wide-range of groups, including trade unions, the Christian network for peace, Japan Buddhists Sangha, and women's organizations.

Representatives of these sponsoring organizations expressed their resolve to defeat the bills. Transport workers said they will object to carrying tanks and war materials, and nurses expressed their refusal to treat soldiers only to enable them to return to the battlefield.

Reporting on what he witnessed as an NGO member in Palestine,Okochi Hideto, a Buddhist monk and an initiator of the rally, said, "Weapons change people, scare them, and make them incapable of communicating." A high school student's report on his group's activity of collecting 10,000 signatures in opposition to the contingency legislation received a round of applause in encouragement.

Speaking on behalf of the Japanese Communist Party, JCP acting Secretariat Head Fudesaka Hideyo described the contingency bills as reversing the gear of modern history in which war is outlawed. He stated that the JCP will be involved in the struggle to foil such an attempt.

When participants stood up one after another at the call of "NO to going to war," a big human wave surged the outdoor hall. After the rally, participants walked in demonstration, one group to the Diet building, and the other to the Ginza. (end)