The 73rd May Day celebration full of workers' energy

About 335,000 workers attended the 73rd May Day celebration at 372 locations throughout the country, calling for an end to the corrupt Koizumi Cabinet.

Kobayashi Yoji, president of the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), told a gathering of 80,000 workers in Kameido Central Park in Tokyo that Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro has done nothing to solve the economic crisis. Asserting that Koizumi is not qualified to steer Japan, the Zenroren president called for the Koizumi administration to be tossed out of office.

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo denounced Koizumi for having destroyed people's rights and jobs and destroying the Constitution and endangering peace. He called on all workers to stand together to block the wartime bills scheduled to be rammed through the Diet.

As rally participants marched in a demonstration, people along the routes, in the windows of apartments, or on the balconies of buildings, waved their hands in greeting.

A 46-year-old heavy industry worker held a banner of Koizumi in a tuxedo and U.S. President Bush in camouflage gear grabbing people's arms. He said, "I am opposed to any moves to get our children involved in war. The factory I work for makes hydraulic parts for fighter aircraft. If a war breaks out, I'll be forcibly mobilized to arms production."

A carpenter complained that his business went bankrupt because of the bank's reluctance to extend loans under Koizumi's "structural reform," adding that he will no longer support the Koizumi Cabinet.

A march by a mock-armored tank and housewives parodied wartime women's national defense society. Their demonstration attracted attention from passers-by. A 70-year-old carpenter who played a soldier on the tank said, "I made this tank, hoping that Japan would never go back to wartime."

A young worker who took part in the May Day celebration for the first time said, "I'm so surprised to see so many workers here today. Their energy makes me actually realize that I am a worker." (end)