69th anniversary of the start of the Pacific War

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

69^th anniversary of the start of the Pacific War

December 8 marked the 69^th anniversary of the outbreak of the Pacific War. The Japanese Communist Party Central Committee and the JCP Tokyo Metropolitan Committee gave street speeches near JR Shinjuku Station to reaffirm the importance of remembering the mistake of Japan’s war of aggression and maintaining peaceful relations with neighboring countries.

Referring to such issues as the Senkaku Islands issue, JCP representative Tamura Tomoko (House of Councilors) stated that the spirit of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution should also be adopted in solving the issues on the Korean Peninsula and the rest of Asia. She expressed her determination to urge the government to pursue peace-oriented policies and diplomacy based on facts and reason.

Not all the issues of postwar compensation have been settled yet, she pointed out. Those who survived the air-raids during the war, some with scars on their faces and some wearing artificial legs, recently held a rally to demand compensation.

Tamura said, “Wartime Japan inflicted unbearable suffering on the people including a crackdown on those who were opposed to the war. Japan must adhere to its postwar resolution to not repeat the same mistake.”

Members of the network for the Japan Mothers Congress on the same day conducted a chain of actions in all 47 prefectures in defense of peace. The action took place for the 30^th consecutive year.

Handing out copies of the call-up notice “red slip” to passersby, they called for a peaceful Japan free of nuclear weapons and military bases.

A housewife whose husband and son work in the construction industry said, “I don’t want them to work on any bridge or any road in preparation for war.”

- Akahata, December 9, 2010