Japan Press Weekly

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2011 September 7 - 13 [EDUCATION]

Osaka citizens protest against governor’s intent to control education and prefectural gov’t workers

More than 1,000 Osaka citizens, lawyers, and unionists on September 6 held a rally to defeat Osaka Governor Hashimoto’s attempt to create ordinances to strengthen his influence over public education and prefectural government personnel.

Participants confirmed their resolve to strengthen their movement to block Hashimoto’s local party “Osaka Ishin-no Kai” from submitting to the Prefectural Assembly bills to establish such ordinances.

The rally was organized by eight organizations, including pro-constitution civil groups, a lawyers’ group, and unions.

Lawyer Takemura Fumio, who chairs a special committee on the Japanese Constitution at the Osaka Bar Association, in his solidarity speech said that the bills “will deny the role played by education boards and change Osaka to a prefecture in which people cannot have their opinions taken into consideration regarding the governor’s policies.”

A mother of three children, an Osaka public high school teacher, and representatives of a teachers’ union and a prefectural workers’ union expressed their determination to fight to thwart the Ishin-no Kai’s plan to submit the bills to the assembly.

Ishin-no Kai plans to present to the assembly on September 20 the bills on a “fundamental ordinance on education” and a “fundamental ordinance on prefectural personnel.”