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Article 9 Association inaugurated within insurance companies

About 250 peace-minded people in non-life insurance companies on June 18 held a meeting in Tokyo to found their Article 9 Association. This is the first industrial Article 9 Association.

Shinagawa Masaji, a permanent director of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives and an advisor of Nipponkoa Insurance Co., Ltd., spoke to warn of the danger of constitutional revisions from a business person's viewpoint.

Shinagawa said, "War places victory as its top value, completely reversing value relevance. Everything, including the diplomatic, financial, and scientific fields, is to be mobilized for war. At a time when the United State, Japan's military alliance partner, is at war, why should Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution be changed? Nothing would be more reckless than this in term of the country's future."

Artists launch Article 9 Association

Artists and other people in the artistic field on June 18 established their own Article 9 Association in Tokyo in order to publicize an appeal published by the Article 9 Association in their field.

At an inauguration meeting, they officially adopted the Article 9 Association's appeal and called on other art-related people to take action based on the common goal to defend Article 9 against the move to again become to a war-fighting nation.

As of June 17, 141 artists express their support for the artists' Article 9 Association. -- Akahata, June 19, 2005