May 20 & 21, 2026

Opposing the Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae-led government’s move to adversely revise the Constitution and turn Japan into a “war-fighting nation”, an anti-war protest took place on May 19 near the main gate of the Diet building with 10,000 people participating,

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councillors Nihi Sohei delivered a speech in solidarity. He stressed that Japan, as a nation having the pacifist Article 9 of the Constitution, should devote its efforts to put a stop to the unprovoked war of aggression on Iran waged by the U.S. and Israel. He appealed for the need to strengthen the anti-war movement, saying, “The Takaichi government is becoming scared of the growing public protests.”

Along with Nihi, Dietmembers of the Social Democratic Party, the parliamentary group Okinawa Whirlwind, the Centrist Reform Alliance, and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan also spoke in solidarity.

A participant who came from Okinawa’s Miyakojima City, Ishimine Kaori, expressed her concern about the Takaichi government policy to forcibly evacuate 120,000 residents who live on the Sakishima Islands, which include the islands of Miyako, Ishigaki, and Yonaguni, to the Kyushu region and Yamaguchi Prefecuter in the event of a Taiwan contingency. She said with a touch of anxiety, “Once our island is turned into a battlefield, we can never go back.”

Morita Fumiko, 96, a Nagasaki A-bomb survivor, lost her parents and three younger brothers in the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing. She said, “I don’t want anyone else to die in war anymore.”

A woman working at an elderly nursing facility referred to a male resident who was crying, recalling his war experience of being ordered by his superior to kill war prisoners. She added, “Having heard firsthand accounts of the war from survivors, I oppose the government’s pro-war policies.”

Among the participants in this protest were people with disabilities. Uemura Hironori, 50, who is visually impaired, stated, “I’ve heard that during the war, disabled persons were not recognized as citizens and were often treated with contempt.” He expressed his fear that Japanese society may become that kind of society again.