Unions and religious groups take action to foil wartime legislation

Twenty unions and two religious groups held a rally in front of the Diet Building on April 3, opposing the wartime bills which the Koizumi Cabinet plans to submit to the current Diet session.

The street was filled with 600 people holding posters and banners, and the Diet area resounded with their shouts, "Defend life, defend the Japanese Constitution." A crowd of pedestrians on the sidewalk across the street watched intently.

Representatives of religious groups, citizens groups, unions of transport-related workers, and youth groups spoke at the rally. Diet members from the Japanese Communist Party, the Okinawa Social Mass Party, and an independent member also spoke.

The leader of the All Japan Seamen's Union said, "65,000 seamen were mobilized and fell victim to World War II. We cannot accept any laws which force us to work for wars again."

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Several religious and citizens groups held a press conference in the Diet Building on April 3 to announce a plan to run an advertisement, "Oppose wartime legislation and promote Japanese peace Constitution" in newspapers.

They will collect support money from up to 5,000 people and run their advertisement on May 3, Constitution Day, in order to let many people know that the legislation would force Japanese citizens to cooperate in U.S wars.

Kikuchi Yumi of the Global Peace Campaign, who called for putting an advertisement against the U.S. retaliatory war in the New York Times, said, "Several American writers and scholars have sent us messages and money, saying that they want to save Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution. We want people all over the world to join us in the struggle against the wartime legislation and to protect our peace constitution." (end)