April 13, 2010

The famous playwright Inoue Hisashi, one of the nine founders of the Article 9 Association (A9A), died of lung cancer at the age of 75 on April 9.

Along with his fame as a writer, Inoue was known for his pacifist activities. In 2004, he launched the A9A with the late critic Kato Shuichi, Miki Mutsuko of the U.N. Women’s Society, the late writer Oda Makoto, writer Oe Kenzaburo, scholar Okudaira Yasuhiro, writer Sawachi Hisae, philosopher Tsurumi Shunsuke, and philosopher Umehara Takeshi.

In 1999, he coauthored the “New Manifesto of the Japanese Communist Party” with former JCP Chair Fuwa Tetsuzo and supported the JCP in national elections.
- Akahata, April 13, 2010