Japan Press Weekly

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2022 December 14 - 20 [POLITICS]

People of faith protest against gov't intent to buy Tomahawk missiles

People of faith took to the streets near the Ginza in Tokyo on December 15 in opposition to Japan's intent to possess a counterforce (enemy-strike) capability which successive governments have regarded as unconstitutional as well as in opposition to the doubling of military budget announced by the present government.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Kira Yoshiko joined them and said, "Let us press the Kishida government to opt for 'dialogues and diplomacy', not for an 'arms race'!"

Shinto priest Okuda Yasuji of Asakawa Konpira Shrine said, "Problem-solving through peace diplomacy is the way Japan should go."

Pastor Shibata Chietsu of the Japan Alliance Christ Church, Yokohama-Uenocho church, said that Japan should dedicate itself to peace diplomacy as a way to stop other countries from fighting based on its deep remorse over its past war of aggression. He added, "Christianity was attacked in the past in Japan. Before and during WWII, Japanese communists faced up to persecution and did not give in to the suppression in order to speak out for peace. I feel deep respect for their courage."

Buddhist monk Oyama Kosen of the Honganji school of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism pointed out that nobody in their right mind wants war, saying, "Diplomatic dialogues can surely bring about a peaceful solution to conflicts. Framework-building for peace in East Asia based on ASEAN's Outlook on the Indo-Pacific will contribute to averting a war in the region."

Two days earlier in Tokyo's Shibuya district, religious people held a protest after the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komei Party officially announced that the government will introduce long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles which the U.S. military used in its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Takeda Takao of Nipponzan-Myohoji, a Nichiren Buddhist sect, said, "The government is saying that the purchase of Tomahawk missiles is for the sake of defending the country, but the system is actually an offensive weapon for striking enemy bases."

Rev. Kim Sung-jae, general secretary of the National Christian Council in Japan, pointed out that it was Japan that started the Pacific War with its preemptive strike on Pearl Harbor and inflicted tremendous damage and suffering on people in Japan and the rest of Asia. Kim criticized the Kishida government for seeking to acquire a first-strike capability designated as a counterforce capability.