About 3,500 people braved a biting wind on January 31 to attend an open-air rally to show their determination to make every effort to prevent a U.S. war on Iraq in solidarity with the international community.
On behalf of the organizers of the rally held at Tokyo's Hibiya Amphitheater, National Confederation of Trade Unions President Kumagai Kanemichi said that U.S. President George W. Bush is the one who should be denounced as an outlaw. Kumagai called for a nationwide anti-war struggle and announced that well-known writers and directors have proposed to hold a big rally in Tokyo on February 14, the world's joint action day in protest against the possible U.S. war.
Ichida Tadayoshi, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat head, called for solidarity, setting aside religious and political differences, in order to increase the anti-war movement at the grassroots level.
Japan Buddha Sangha monk Kitsu Hiromichi and Ono Noriyuki, chair of the Japan Federation of Civil Aviation Worker's Union For Air Safety, also spoke in solidarity. (end)
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