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2019 February 27 - March 5 TOP3 [SOCIAL ISSUES]


Money used to buy 6 F-35s would eliminate the number of children waiting to enter daycare centers

March 1, 2019
Several civic groups on February 28 held a rally in the Upper House members' office building, demanding that the national budget be used for childcare support and education, not for the purchase of foreign weapons.

Participants confirmed their intent to lobby opposition party politicians to work to change the current political situation in which a huge budget is in place for the sake of military corporations both at home and abroad.

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Inoue Satoshi attended the rally and said, "The Abe government is building up the country's military capability by building, for example, 'attack aircraft carriers' in violation of the Japanese Constitution. At present, we the JCP Dietmembers are engaged in Diet deliberations on next year's budget, and we hope our efforts will contribute to bringing down the present regime in this summer's national election."

Regarding the government plan to buy 147 F-35 fighters, Sugihara Koji, a representative of the Network against Japan Arms Trade, pointed out that the purchase of just one F-35 fighter would correspond to the construction of as many as 90 authorized daycare facilities for children. With money saved from not purchasing just six F-35s, the number of children waiting for admission to daycare facilities in Japan would drop to zero, Sugihara added.

Shin Hae Bong, a professor at Aoyama Gakuin University, said that the government is determined to buy a large quantity of U.S.-made weapons while cutting back on the public assistance and educational budgets and leaving students struggling with the heavy burden of having to pay back student loans.

A member of a citizens' organization working for tuition-free higher education reported that university tuition fees in general have been on the rise, and that 60% of college students had had to take into account the amount of tuition fees before choosing which entrance exams they would take.
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