Japan Press Weekly

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2017 May 10 - 16 [US FORCES]

US military puts Japanese ‘no war’ civic movements under surveillance

U.S. documents regarding Japan-U.S. joint military exercises reveal that the U.S. military placed Japanese civic movements calling for “No war” and “No military bases” under surveillance for intelligence purposes.

The documents, attached as an appendix to an intelligence analysis annexed to a U.S. operation order when the Japan-U.S. joint drills “Yama Sakura 61” took place at GSDF Camp Itami (Hyogo Pref.) in January and February 2012, focused on Japanese “radical groups”.

The reports in question bring into relief a possibility that the currently-discussed “anti-conspiracy” bill may target peaceful demonstrations and rallies as “crimes” if the U.S. Forces Japan regards participants in these civil actions as enemies and asks the Japanese government for a crackdown on them.

However, what the U.S. military calls “radical groups”, according to the attached photos, were pacifist citizens’ movements, including a rally of 5,000 people held in Nagoya City in June 2002 to oppose the emergency legislation at that time and the “Peace Walk for a World without Wars” in Kyoto City which was started after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The U.S. documents include citizens’ peace movements such as anti-base sit-ins and campaigns against the SDF dispatch to Iraq as activities involving “radical groups”.

Satonaka Etsuko who organized the “Peace Walk” in Kyoto said, “Seeing the 9/11 attacks, we felt so much pain and anger that we came together to call for a world without armed conflicts. That’s why we decided to start this regular event. This is just a flexible assembly of concerned individuals. So, considering our peaceful gathering as ‘radical’ is barking at the wrong tree. In the past, the imperial government claimed that the Public Maintenance Order Law would never be applied to the general public, but things turned out to be just the opposite. As for the ‘anti-conspiracy’ bill, in my opinion, the present government is using the same devious tactics and misleading propaganda as the prewar/wartime government did.”

Past related articles:
> JCP Fujino: ‘Conspiracy bill’ will lead to creation of surveillance society [February 3, 2017]
> Cabinet intelligence top praises Japan’s wartime suppression [August 18, 2016]