Rally on May 3 Constitution Day

As the wartime bills are soon to be discussed in the Diet, rallies in defense of the Constitution took place in many locations throughout Japan on Constitution Day (May 3).

At a Tokyo rally sponsored by pro-Constitution groups, about 5,000 people packed the Hibiya Public Hall with their solid resolve "not to go back to a war-road."

The main speakers were Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo, Social Democratic Party Leader Doi Takako, writer Oda Makoto, and Professor Emeritus of Saitama University Teruoka Itsuko. Carlos Vargas, vice-president of the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms spoke in solidarity.

JCP Shii pointed out that the wartime legislation actually assumes participation by Japanese troops in U.S. wars. He stated that the legislation with a punitive code against the non-cooperative public will trample on freedom of thought and creed and Article 9 of the Constitution which renounces war. He called on rally participants to close ranks to block the Constitution-destroying bills from being enacted.

A 93-year old man who waited for the entry into the hall for two hours before the opening said in grief, "Article 9 is about to be swept away by an armored tank. Prime Minister Koizumi doesn't know how horrible wars are."

An 18-year-old student who, because of the overflow crowd, was listening to the speeches in the lobby on a monitor, said, "I will study more about the contradictions between the Constitution and the wartime legislation and inform all my friends of the danger." (end)