Japan Press Weekly

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2017 April 26 - May 9 [POLITICS]

55,000 people rally to mark 70th year of enforcement of the peace Constitution

On May 3, a rally to mark the 70th anniversary of the enforcement of the Japanese Constitution took place at a seaside park in Tokyo’s Ariake district with 55,000 people participating.

At the rally, representatives of the five opposition parties advocating the protection of constitutionalism gave speeches. Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo noted that the fact that the postwar Constitution has not been revised for 70 years proves the importance of its pioneering traits. “What should be changed is not the Constitution but the government ignoring the supreme law,” he stressed.

Shii called for the repeal of the national security legislation (the war legislation) and the scrapping of the anti-conspiracy bill. He also condemned the Abe administration for moving ahead with the construction of a U.S. base in Okinawa in defiance of the huge local opposition, stating that the government is destroying democracy, local autonomy, and personal dignity which are all guaranteed under the current Constitution.

Democratic Party President Renho insisted that the Constitution exists for the people, not for Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. “Let’s work together to protect the Constitution,” she said.

Following the rally, the participants paraded in demonstration on two different courses. They yelled in chorus, “Protect the Constitution!” “Repeal the war legislation!” and “Kill the anti-conspiracy bill!”

A 75-year-old woman from Kiyose City in Tokyo, Matsuura Kumiko, said, “The spirit of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution is to resolve any dispute through dialogue, not by armed force. We have to protect the pacifist Constitution at any cost.”