Japan Press Weekly

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2013 November 27 - December 3 [POLITICS]

Public anger mounting at passage of secrets protection bill

Japan’s government district was a site of public outrage over the forced passage of a state secrets protection bill through the Lower House on November 26.

On the evening of that day, a protest rally took place in front of the prime minister’s office with about 1,000 citizens participating. Hirohama Ayako, a 42-year-old woman from Yokohama City, said, “As an illustrator, I cannot allow the secrecy bill to threaten the freedom of expression.” At just around the same time, another rally was held in front of the main gate of the Diet building with about 1,000 people shouting in unison protesting against the bill’s passage.

In Ginza, Tokyo, some 300 women staged a demonstration parade, calling for the scrapping of the bill. At a gathering prior to the march, New Japan Women’s Association (Shinfujin) Chair Kasai Kimiyo, one of the parade organizers, said, “The Abe government intends to restrain women from talking about politics. Now we must shout about the issue and call on parliamentarians to stop the moves to turn Japan into a war-fighting nation.”

At a rally in front of the Lower House members’ office building, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo delivered a speech. He pointed out that the ruling camp rushed the passing of the bill due to fear of growing public opposition, saying, “The outcome of this fight depends on how we can broaden the various campaigns opposing the draft law. Let’s unite our all efforts to kill it.”

JCP Acting Secretariat Head Yamashita Yoshiki spoke in front of Shinjuku Station. He stressed that both the substance of the measure and the way it was rammed through infringe upon democracy, saying, “We are determined to work to discard such an unprecedentedly dangerous bill by joining hands with the general public.”

Residents of Fukushima Prefecture suffering from the nuclear crisis also raised their voices in protest. Kawaguchi Ryoichi, a 75-year-old man living in Fukushima’s Minamisoma City, experienced Japan’s past war in his childhood. “If the bill is enacted, the public will be forced to blindly serve the people in power just like in the prewar period. Information related to nuclear power plants may be classified as well,” he said in anger.