January 9, 2020

An assembly of citizens working to protect the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution called "All-Out Action Committee" took to the streets near Tokyo's Shinjuku Station on January 8, calling for the immediate retraction of the Cabinet decision to send Maritime Self-Defense Force units to the Middle East.

Many citizens and representatives of the opposition parties took part in the action with "No War!" placards in hand. Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira and Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan member of the House of Representatives Kan Naoto delivered speeches in solidarity.

On behalf of the action organizers, Fujimoto Yasunari who heads the "Anti-War Committee of 1000" said, "We Japanese people with Article 9 of the Constitution are determined never to allow Japan to go to war again. Let us speak out against the MSDF dispatch!"

Imai Takaki of the Japan International Volunteer Center said, "The government explains that the MSDF won't join in a U.S.-led 'coalition of the willing' against Iran, but I'm sure that Japan will be perceived as a U.S. war ally by most countries in the region. We should demand that the government with its pacifistic Constitution search for solutions through dialogue, not through the use of force."

Past related article:
> Abe gov’t seeks to send SDF to Middle East without obtaining Diet approval [December 3, 2019]
> Don’t send SDF to work with Trump’s ‘coalition of willing’ against Iran: Shii [July 13, 2019]