Japan

Protests Sweep Japan to as Right-Wing Government Pushes for Further Militarization

Massive protests took place across Japan on Thursday to mark 71st Constitution Memorial Day as tens of thousands of people rallied against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s continued attempts to scrap the pacifist aspects of the 1947 U.S.-penned Constitution.

The protests drew up to 60,000 participants in Tokyo alone, where Japanese people of all ages rallied in Rinkai Disaster Prevention Park calling for the scandal-plagued Abe administration to step down and for the preservation of the Constitution’s Article 9. Rallies were also held in Osaka, Fukuoka, Hokkaido, and other cities across the country.

Article 9 of the Constitution explicitly renounces “war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.”

quote:

According to an Asahi Shimbun survey, only 39 percent of Japanese voters support Abe’s proposal to revise the Constitution, while 53 percent oppose the move. However, a separate survey by Kyodo News agency found that while sixty-two percent of respondents oppose the revision by Abe’s 2020 target date, 58 percent feel that a constitutional revision is “necessary” or “somewhat necessary” due to the “outdatedness” of certain clauses.

The ultra-nationalist pressure to rearm

Much smaller pro-amendment rallies were also held in the capital calling on the government to explicitly define the status of the SDF while broadening its mandate to take part in military actions abroad.

In a video message to the Kokai Kenpo Forum, Abe celebrated his Constitutional reform advocacy as other speakers noted its necessity for defining the “honorable status of the SDF in the Constitution and [raising] the morale of SDF members.”

The forum is associated with Nippon Kaigi (Japan Conference), an ultra-nationalist lobby group that has a parliamentary league for which Abe serves as special advisor. The group, which includes prominent businessmen, academics, and bureaucrats, has a record of extolling the virtues of Imperial-era Japan and seeks to do away with the entire “occupiers’ Constitution” of 1947.

A U.S. congressional report in 2014 noted that Nippon Kaigi believes that “Japan should be applauded for liberating much of East Asia from Western colonial powers, that the 1946-1948 Tokyo War Crimes tribunals were illegitimate, and that the killings by Imperial Japanese troops during the 1937 ‘Nanjing massacre’ were exaggerated or fabricated.”

Support for constitutional revision has also been fanned by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has placed pressure on the Abe government to purchase more U.S. weapons. Trump’s pressure coincides with a push by LDP lawmakers to increase an already record-high defense budget that amounts to 5.19 trillion yen, or $45.77 billion. Washington also hopes to enhance the U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific region, a strategy that would be assisted by a remilitarized Japan.

WWWTT

..the first part of that post was about the opposition to militarization. the second part is the stats and the third the pro military connected to the president who are downplaying the massacre. so what is dangerous about that? am i missing something?

..i believe the majority of the japanese population is insulted by it.

Japan: Okinawans Reject Relocation of U.S. Base in Referendum

In Japan, residents of Okinawa opposed plans to relocate a U.S. air base elsewhere on the island in a referendum Sunday. Over 70 percent of voters voted against the plan. This is a local resident explaining her vote.

Okinawan resident: “Accidents have taken place here. However, the U.S. forces, even if they break laws or regulations, go unpunished in accordance with the relevant agreements between Japan and the U.S. So I don’t think it’s fair. Plus, the military base is something related with war. I don’t think military bases should exist in the world.”

The Japanese government said on Monday it would nonetheless move ahead with the relocation. For decades, Okinawans have called for the expulsion of U.S. troops from the island, which houses about two-thirds of the 50,000 U.S. troops currently stationed in Japan. Last year, residents elected a new governor, Denny Tamaki, who vowed to fight against the U.S. military presence.

..txs wwwtt. you did see where the story came from didn't you? :)

..no kudos please i wasn't looking to catch you. it just made me smile.

..i agree with your original comments by the way that there are few places compared to the many that don't report on these matters.