November 20, 2011
The “Article 9 Association,” a nationwide organization focusing simply on defending Article 9 of the Constitution, held its 4th national meeting on November 19 in Tokyo to report on local activities.
About 750 participants exchanged opinions on reconstruction from the disaster and the nuclear energy issue from the perspective of the Constitution, and discussed ways to counter the increasing moves to adversely revise the Constitution.
Oe Kenzaburo, an initiator of the association and Nobel Prize-winning writer, said in his opening speech, “Constitution-based interpretations rejecting nuclear power are requiring us to make utmost efforts to prevent another Fukushima from happening.”
Okudaira Yasuhiro, a constitutional scholar and another founding member, warned that attempts to adversely revise the Constitution guaranteeing the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are being intensified. He stressed the need for people to steel themselves for renewed struggles to defend the Constitution.
A woman from Fukushima City reported on the children still having to live in shelters and having to endure adjusting to being treated as outsiders in the schools they attend near their temporary residences. She said, “People are deprived even of the constitutional minimum standards of living. We do not want nuclear power plants to restart operation. Please work to shut down all the NPPs across Japan.”
Participants related their grassroots experiences in discussions in 7 subcommittee meetings. A woman who works for a travel agency said that she made passport-sized notebooks with Article 9 translated into 6 languages, and that she hands it out to outgoing tourists or to people she meets while broad.
A representative of the Hokkaido A9A said that her group has edited the essays of elderly people’s memories of the war, which now extends to a fifth series of publication. The group also often organized recreational activities to have people gather to talk about issues related to war and peace.
About 750 participants exchanged opinions on reconstruction from the disaster and the nuclear energy issue from the perspective of the Constitution, and discussed ways to counter the increasing moves to adversely revise the Constitution.
Oe Kenzaburo, an initiator of the association and Nobel Prize-winning writer, said in his opening speech, “Constitution-based interpretations rejecting nuclear power are requiring us to make utmost efforts to prevent another Fukushima from happening.”
Okudaira Yasuhiro, a constitutional scholar and another founding member, warned that attempts to adversely revise the Constitution guaranteeing the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are being intensified. He stressed the need for people to steel themselves for renewed struggles to defend the Constitution.
A woman from Fukushima City reported on the children still having to live in shelters and having to endure adjusting to being treated as outsiders in the schools they attend near their temporary residences. She said, “People are deprived even of the constitutional minimum standards of living. We do not want nuclear power plants to restart operation. Please work to shut down all the NPPs across Japan.”
Participants related their grassroots experiences in discussions in 7 subcommittee meetings. A woman who works for a travel agency said that she made passport-sized notebooks with Article 9 translated into 6 languages, and that she hands it out to outgoing tourists or to people she meets while broad.
A representative of the Hokkaido A9A said that her group has edited the essays of elderly people’s memories of the war, which now extends to a fifth series of publication. The group also often organized recreational activities to have people gather to talk about issues related to war and peace.
