Japan Press Weekly

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2014 June 11 - 17 TOP3 [POLITICS]

People call for Abe’s resignation as PM

Calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, who is aggressively pushing forward with Japan’s use of the collective self-defense right by constitutional reinterpretation, demonstrations took place on June 14 in Tokyo’s major shopping districts of Shinjuku and Ginza.

On the weekend afternoon in Shinjuku, following the rhythm of a drum beat, 700 protesters united their voices, shouting, “Abe, step down from power!”, “Protect the Constitution!” and “Scrap Abe’s right-wing policies!”

A 39-year-old male participant said, “The prime minister is trying to steamroller through his way to Japan’s use of the right to collective self-defense despite the possibility of causing war casualties. It is preposterous.”

Another demonstration held in Ginza was organized by people in the healthcare and the welfare sectors with 100 people participating.

An ER doctor in Yokohama City, who learned about the demo through the Internet, said, “This is my first time to join a demonstration. I have to raise my voice now. Abe’s moves based on his desire to enable Japan to use force abroad is dangerous.”

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Lawyers, academics and religious people, playwrights and members of a union for workers in the film and the theater industries are expressing their opposition one after another against Abe’s attempt to pave the way for Japan’s exercise of the collective self-defense right.

The Japan Playwrights Association on June 13 published a statement declaring that it will work hard to galvanize popular opposition to the PM’s moves.

The Federation of Cinema and Theatrical Workers’ Union of Japan on June 12 in a statement pointed out that the exercise of the right to collective self-defense will lead to the infringement and deprivation of people’s right to live peacefully. The union expressed its determination to do its utmost to put a stop to further moves by the prime minister.