 Kakushinkon calls for a major national campaign to stop adverse constitutional revision The National Association for a Peaceful, Democratic and Progressive Japan (Kakushinkon), which is the center of a national movement to rally the public in an effort to achieve a progressive change in politics, held its 24th General Assembly on September 17 in Itoh City, Shizuoka Prefecture. The assembly, attended by 350 people from all walks of life around the country, decided to develop a "major campaign to stop the adverse revision of the Constitution in defense of its war-renouncing Article 9." Kurihara Toru on behalf of the Kakushinkon national board proposed a plan of action for the coming year. He stated, "At a time when the prime minister, the opposition Democratic Party of Japan leader, business leaders, and senior U.S. government officials are openly calling for the Japanese Constitution to be revised, we will devote all our energy to block the attempt that would affect the future course of Japan in the 21st century". He called on the participants to actively organize a variety of activities, including signature-collection campaigns, study and lecture meetings, joint appeals, and newspaper ads, while expanding cooperation in opposition to adverse constitutional revision, including cooperating with the "Article 9 Committee" which represents public hopes and demands for peace. He stressed that Kakushinkon, with its 23-year history and organizations in all prefectures, 593 districts, and 176 workplaces, has been playing an important role in promoting a political reform at the grassroots level, and called for Kakushinkon to be stronger and more active. Speaking on the present political situations and role of the Kakushinkon movement, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi stated, "Let us grasp the situation in a positive manner from the viewpoint of social change. No matter how much the 'two-party system' makes progress, it can never halt the JCP and Kakushinkon struggle to realize public demands. " Kakushinkon was founded in 1981 by many labor unions, democratic organizations, and individuals in cooperation with the JCP, the only political party to stand for the progressive objectives of political change. (end) |