national

Rallies, events held across Japan on Constitution Day

16 Comments

Various rallies and events were held in many cities across Japan on Sunday to mark Constitution Day.

Representatives of the major political parties spoke at events with the main focus whether or not Japan should revise its pacifist constitution.

In Tokyo, a group of conservative lawmakers and their supporters launched a campaign to get 10 million signatures calling for a national referendum to be held on revising the constitution at the same time as the upper house election is held in the summer of 2016, Fuji TV reported.

Meanwhile, at a Yokohama outdoor rally opposing constitutional revision, Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe criticized the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for trying to revise the constitution to enable Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense.

Oe said any revision to a law that would send Japan to war again should be rejected outright.

Other participants at the rally said Japan should be proud that its armed forces have never fired a bullet at anyone since the end of World War II.

Conservative Japanese want to rewrite the U.S-drafted constitution as a matter of national pride and because they say it does not reflect the realities of the modern world. They also argue that revision would not increase the risk of Japan becoming involved in military conflict.

A constitutional revision needs approval of two-thirds of each house of the Diet and a majority of voters in a public referendum.

Abe's ruling bloc has a two-thirds majority in the lower house but will have trouble duplicating that in the upper chamber in a 2016 election, so revisions need support from the opposition.

© Japan Today/Thomson Reuters

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

16 Comments
Login to comment

Interesting bit on the news about this last night they interviewed different age groups and asked their opinions about changing the constitution, and about Article 9 as well.

Not surprising to me were the responses given by the elderly who experienced the war, all the folks interviewed (broadcast) were against it, the folks born right after the war were for the majority, for it, the 20's and 30's were split about 60-40 against, and the younger generation, 18 to 20 were overwhelmingly against it, something like 85-15.

(Dont know how many people they talked to but the responses were varied and the folks shown on TV were very articulate in their responses)

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Japan should be proud that its armed forces have never fired a bullet at anyone since the end of World War II.

I think so. But we should not forget that Korean occupied Japanese territory Takeshima island while Japan was unarmed after WW II.

-13 ( +1 / -14 )

Japan's rising power and influence is necessary in a rapidly changing Asia to counterbalance China, like it or not.

-12 ( +1 / -13 )

The Yokohama rally attracted over 30,000 people, which is certainly a very significant number for a society not well known for voicing mass public displeasure. Pity "un-biased NHK" couldn't have given the event more upfront news time instead of a minor spot at the end.

And as stated, the fact that Japan has never fired one bullet post-war(peaceful means), seems to escape the military machine supporters as a viable alernative to an escalation of military conflict.

Why can't Japan have the guts to stay the course and just say no? But I guess the American might and Japanese right have other ideas about what constitutes strength and need to play up the bogie of imminent invasion or some other twist.

The biggest threat to the safety of Japan will come from within. That's for sure - and no amount of the trillions spent on armaments will do much to curb that danger.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

Good point Yubaru! I've often wondered if there was a correlation to people being born just-after the war and politically aligning with Abe's right-wing, but never managed to catch any data to back up the notion.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I'm surprised that NHK (or any networks) covered the Yokohama rally at all. They'll soon get an earful from Abe's cronies!

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Every country has the right of self-defense. The Constitution doesn't specify it. So the Liberal Democratic Party and Japanese citizens shoud amend.

-10 ( +1 / -11 )

Let the JSDF participate in UN peacekeeping operations.

They'd serve with the forces of nations with a more mature, multilateralist, non-belligerent approach to conflict resolution: countries whose GDPs don't rely so heavily on the military-industrial complex that they are locked into a boom-bust cycle of conflict creation.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Be nice if other countries would emulate Japan's pacifist constitution: South Korea, North Korea, China, Russia, US, (insert another country).

5 ( +6 / -1 )

For the conservatives, rewriting the constitution is not so much a matter of pride but a matter of restricting the freedoms of the people. They don't like the freedoms of speech and assembly and the right to privacy of communications.

Under the LDP's proposed reforms you will only be free to praise the government, not to criticise them (just like China).

The LDP wants to ban anti-government protests (just like China).

The LDP wants to snoop on your communications and monitor those who oppose them (just like China).

The LDP wants to introduce conscription (just like China, although it's not used in China at the moment).

It's surprising that the LDP wants to copy China given all the criticism directed at that country by LDP politicians.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

I've read the Japanese constitution multiple times, and I was shocked how frequently it seems to be being broken:

Article 14 (anti-discrimination and equality before the law) - Yet women are blatantly and routinely discriminated against in Japan. Also the judiciary seems quite biased in favour of companies and the government, the extent that they support decisions that are frankly insane.

Article 19 (freedom of thought and conscience) - Yet just a few years ago the courts ruled that teachers had to sing a national anthem that disagreed with their conscience... it isn't really freedom when you're forced to do something that violates your principles.

Article 21 (freedom of association, speech and the press) - Oh wow, this one has been so thoroughly violated it is hard to know where to begin. Government employees can't belong to unions, the new secrecy act violates the right of public servants to speak out about abuses of power, and the LDP has a long history of telling the press what they can and cannot publish.

Article 23 (academic freedom) - Now the LDP is even beginning to tell academics what they can and cannot publish.

Article 24 (equality in marriage) - Don't make me laugh. The family courts almost exclusively award custody to mothers and foreigner's rights in marriages are a joke.

Article 27 (working conditions fixed by law) - But the state routinely rules in favour of abusive companies, turns a blind eye to unpaid overtime and generally makes no effort to uphold the laws regarding work.

Article 28 (right of workers to organise and collectively bargain - i.e. unions) - ... unless they're government workers... and companies can apply significant illegal pressure, up to and including dismissal, to stop unionisation and the government won't step in.

Article 38 (rights against self-incrimination and forced confessions) - Yet forced confessions are well documented and ongoing.

... I could go on, but the bottom line is that the Japanese constitution is so routinely flaunted that I don't know why the LDP are even bothering to change it, they could just continue to ignore it with impunity since the judges and police are clearly incapable of stopping even the most blatant abuses of the constitution and the people of Japan are either complicit in this sham or so ill-educated about the constitution that they're unaware that it has been so badly abused.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Words of wisdom from George Washington -

"Cultivate peace and justice toward all nations."

"Avoid alliances and maintain neutrality among nations."

"Avoid dependency; a weak state that allies with a stronger state will become its servant."

"In trade, give no nation a favored nation status."

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Many of my older-than-55 aged students say that the present constitution was pushed on Japan by MacArthur. Japan had no say in it. They say that it does not reflect the Japanese culture, values and ways of thinking. Well, I agree, it was imposed on Japan... so I tell them if they truly want a new constitution they should be more politically active and state their mind instead of just complaining. If Japan wants to rewrite the whole darn constitution, then they should and they have the right - but sadly it's only the minority in government positions who are working on this. The present constitution has points about human rights, freedom of speech and so on - which were taken from the U.S. Constitution... Prime Minister Abe said that those points don't go along with Japan's traditions...hmmm...

1 ( +2 / -1 )

In Tokyo, a group of conservative lawmakers and their supporters launched a campaign to get 10 million signatures calling for a national referendum to be held on revising the constitution at the same time as the upper house election is held in the summer of 2016, Fuji TV reported.

Seems like they are skipping a step, aren't they? Before any referendum can go to the general public, three-fourths of the Diet has to approve changing the Constitution. THEN the referendum is put together.

Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe criticized the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for trying to revise the constitution to enable Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense.

You'd think a Nobel Laureate would be smarter. The whole POINT of Constitutional Amendment provisions is that it keeps the document "live". The people's views change over time and what made sense to one generation doesn't necessarily make a lick of sense to another. It's actually GOOD to attempt to bring the Constitution in-line with today's citizens. If the attempt fails, then the attempt fails. But for a supposed "intellectual" to criticize even making the attempt... foolish.

The present constitution has points about human rights, freedom of speech and so on - which were taken from the U.S. Constitution... Prime Minister Abe said that those points don't go along with Japan's traditions.

Now THERE'S a controversial accusation! Which speech was it where Abe said these things? I'm interested in the entire speech, so a link (to the actual speech, not an opinion or commentary blog, please) would be appreciated. Thanks!

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Abe is only interested on scrapping article 9? He is accustomed to be bashed that he is not tqlkinb to scaqp freedom of speech. Just article 9 first? Abe has to be careful if he wqnts to be PM longer. Nakasone is instigqting wqrmongers to replqce Abe.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Jumin Rhee. Ironic how you suggest those other countries emulate Japan's Pacifist Constitution. When it was, in fact the US, who drafted it & taught you peace. Pathetic!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites