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2015 December 16 - 22 [POLITICS]

High school students in Tokyo and Osaka hold demos calling for abolishing war laws

December 20, 2015
On December 19, the day marking the three-month anniversary of the forcible enactment of the war legislation, at almost the same hour, high school students in Tokyo and Osaka paraded through downtown areas, calling for the revocation of the legislation.

These actions were called for by high school students’ groups, T-ns SOWL (Teens Stand Up to Oppose War Laws) and T-ns SOWL West respectively.

In Tokyo, braving the cold wind, 1,000 people of all ages, mainly teen agers, marched in demonstration through the Harajuku shopping district filled with Christmas decorations and shoppers. Following the drum beat, they shouted in chorus, “No, War Laws!” and “Abolish the unconstitutional legislation, now!” In response to the protesters’ chorus, many people on the roadside shouted, “Step down, Prime Minister!”

Standing on a pickup truck which led the demo, four high school students gave speeches.

A male student, who came from Kashiwa City in Chiba Prefecture to take part in his first street protest, said, “I hope opposition parties will join hands and work hard to repeal the war laws.”

Meanwhile, at the same time in Osaka, a similar protest march took place with 200 young people participating.

At a rally held prior to the march, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo and lawmakers of the Democratic and Social Democratic parties delivered speeches in solidarity.

Shii expressed the JCP’s determination to work hard to put up unified opposition candidates in all 32 single-seat constituencies in the coming Upper House election in order to defeat Liberal Democratic candidates. The audience reacted with cheers, saying, “Opposition parties work together!”

In addition to these actions, many citizens rallied and took to the streets at various locations across the country to increase public support for their call for the abolition of the unconstitutional security-related legislation.

Past related article:
> 5,000 high school students parade in Shibuya to oppose PM’s war bills [August 3, 2015]
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