Japan Press Weekly

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2014 August 13 - 19 [POLITICS]

JCP holds street actions on 69th anniversary of end of WWII

On August 15, the day marking the 69th anniversary of the end of WWII, the Japanese Communist Party and peace loving people took to the streets to protest against the Abe government’s move toward creating a war-fighting nation accelerated by the recent Cabinet decision on the use of the right to collective self-defense.

The JCP held street speeches at various locations across Japan, including Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe, to increase public support for its efforts to retract the Cabinet decision to allow Japan’s exercise of the collective self-defense right and to force Prime Minister Abe’s resignation.

In front of JR Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, JCP member of the House of Councilors Tamura Tomoko stressed the significance of the Japanese Constitution which declares that any disputes should be resolved through peaceful dialogue. She said that the need is to change the political direction to one fully utilizing the Constitution. Expressing her determination, Tamura said, “To this end, the JCP, as a political party which resolutely opposed Japan’s war of aggression at the risk of death or imprisonment, will continue to work together with concerned citizens.”

A group for bereaved families of the war dead staged a day of action in Tokyo.

In the morning, members of the group and their supporters distributed leaflets that read “Article 9 of the Constitution is the last will of people killed in WWII” to passersby near Bunkyo Civic Center where the Tokyo Metropolitan Government held a ceremony commemorating the war dead.

In the afternoon, they hosted their annual event paying tribute to the war dead at Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery near the Imperial Palace.

The group’s secretary general, Ueda Yoshikatsu, said, “During our longstanding anti-war activities, I’ve never thought that Japan might again fight wars abroad. We, war dead’s family members have to raise our voices in protest.”

Meanwhile, a state-hosted commemoration ceremony took place at Nippon Budokan also located near the Imperial Palace.

Bereaved families who attended the ceremony expressed their concerns over the Abe government’s militaristic moves.

A 34-year-old man from Okinawa whose grandfather was killed in the war said to an Akahata reporter, “Prime Minister Abe is insisting that the use of the collective self-defense right is to protect Japan and its national interests. However, once Japan exercises the right, ordinary people will face the risk of war.”