 Article 9 Association gives lectures in Hiroshima The Article 9 Association's call for the defense of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution is attracting a large audience at every speech assembly it holds throughout the country. On March 12, about 2,600 citizens listened to three of the nine founders of the Association at an assembly in the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima: Oe Kenzaburo, Nobel Prize writer and author of "Hiroshima Notes"; Tsurumi Shunsuke, philosopher; and Sawachi Hisae, writer. Oe stated, "One of the motives for my journey was to relay a story about people who were vaporized instantaneously by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. "Thanks to Article 9, Japan has been able to adopt the three principles banning weapons exports, which we take pride in. The government is now attempting to abandon these principles," he said. Oe called on the audience to set a new standard by opposing the adverse revision of the Constitution's Article 9. Tsurumi said, "It is necessary for us to try to redefine ourselves using the experience of those whose existence was erased when attacked with the atomic bomb." He said, "Most countries may well feel the need to have armed forces, but in Japan, we should not give up the new concept of renouncing war which we acquired in the wake of the atomic bombing." Referring to Inoue Hisashi's "Chichi to Kuraseba" (whose English title is "The Face of Jizo"), a drama about a father and his daughter separated following the atomic bombing that killed 150,000 Hiroshima citizens, Sawachi looked back on the atomic bombing that left destruction and misery behind. She said, "What is their aim of trying to revise the Constitution at the 60th year since the war's end?" "Let us have a heart-to-heart discussion with one another. The Article 9 Association will act as a barrier to moves to adversely revise the Constitution," she added. The Article 9 Association has so far published 140,000 copies of posters with photos of its nine founders. Lecture meetings to establish local Article 9 Associations took place on March 11 at Chiyoda Ward in Tokyo with about 250 citizens, including members of the Meiji University-Article 9 Association, attending. In a similar lecture meeting on March 10 in Nakano Ward in Tokyo, about 600 people attended. (end) |