Japan Press Weekly

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2013 May 15 - 21 [PEACE]

Article 9 Association calls for movement opposing Article 96 revision

The Article 9Association (A9A) on May 17 issued a statement calling on its members to strengthen efforts to block Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s attempt to revise Article 96 of the Constitution.

Three of the nine founders of the A9A, Oe Kenzaburo (Novel Prize writer), Okudaira Yasuhiro (constitution scholar), and Sawachi Hisae (writer), appeared at a news conference held in Tokyo.

The statement points out, “Prime Minister Abe’s real intention is to use the Article 96 revision as a breakthrough for revision of Article 9.”

It calls on over 7,500 local A9As throughout Japan and their members to work to strengthen the grassroots movement to increase public awareness of the need to protect the Constitution and to add more members to the group in order to form a stable majority opinion against adverse constitutional revision.

Oe in the news conference said, “The over 60-year-old Constitution has positive meanings that we Japanese can proudly pass down to future generations,” and stressed that it is necessary to spread the spirit of the Constitution to the youth and to peoples in foreign counties.

The Article 9 Association was established in June 2004 to defend the Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution which renounces war. It was founded by nine public figures, including famous authors and scholars. Stimulated by the initiative of the nine founders, more than 7,500 A9As have been formed in local communities throughout Japan.