August 27, 2015
More than 300 lawyers and academics held a joint press conference in Tokyo on August 26, announcing that they will launch united efforts to block the enactment of the Abe government-sponsored war legislation.
In the news conference, Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) President Murakoshi Susumu said that this is the first time that so many jurists and academics came together in one place. He stressed that as a lawyers’ group respecting the rule of law, the JFBA cannot tolerate the legislation which violates the Constitution.
Former Director-General of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau Omori Masasuke noted that for over half a century after World War II, successive governments and all political parties, ruling and opposition, had maintained that the Japanese Constitution bans the state from exercising the right to collective self-defense. “It is completely unacceptable for a Cabinet to arbitrarily change the traditional interpretation of the pacifist Constitution,” he said.
Gakushuin University Professor Sato Manabu pointed out that more than 300 wars and conflicts broke out since WWII and that there are only five countries in the world which have not been involved in those conflicts. He emphasized that it is the pride of Japanese people that Japan has refused to be engaged in any war for the past 70 years.
On the evening of the same day, a JFBA-organized protest rally took place at the Hibiya Amphitheater in Tokyo with about 4,000 people taking part, including students.
Machida Hiromi, a mother with young children, said, “Everybody is a child of somebody. I hate war because people kill each other in war.”
An 18-year-old student of Rikkyo University said, “The denial of democracy lies at the root of the Abe administration’s runaway policies. I want to block the passage of the war bills at any cost.”
The rally was also attended by opposition party lawmakers, including 10 legislators of the Japanese Communist Party.
In the news conference, Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) President Murakoshi Susumu said that this is the first time that so many jurists and academics came together in one place. He stressed that as a lawyers’ group respecting the rule of law, the JFBA cannot tolerate the legislation which violates the Constitution.
Former Director-General of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau Omori Masasuke noted that for over half a century after World War II, successive governments and all political parties, ruling and opposition, had maintained that the Japanese Constitution bans the state from exercising the right to collective self-defense. “It is completely unacceptable for a Cabinet to arbitrarily change the traditional interpretation of the pacifist Constitution,” he said.
Gakushuin University Professor Sato Manabu pointed out that more than 300 wars and conflicts broke out since WWII and that there are only five countries in the world which have not been involved in those conflicts. He emphasized that it is the pride of Japanese people that Japan has refused to be engaged in any war for the past 70 years.
On the evening of the same day, a JFBA-organized protest rally took place at the Hibiya Amphitheater in Tokyo with about 4,000 people taking part, including students.
Machida Hiromi, a mother with young children, said, “Everybody is a child of somebody. I hate war because people kill each other in war.”
An 18-year-old student of Rikkyo University said, “The denial of democracy lies at the root of the Abe administration’s runaway policies. I want to block the passage of the war bills at any cost.”
The rally was also attended by opposition party lawmakers, including 10 legislators of the Japanese Communist Party.
