Japan Press Weekly

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2016 August 17 - 23 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Mothers’ Congress resolves to protect Article 9 for peaceful and bright future

The 62nd Japan Mothers’ Congress took place on August 20-21 in Ishikawa and Fukui prefectures with 9,300 people participating. The congress on the final day in Kanazawa City, adopted an appeal calling on the participants to play a leading role in movements to protect Article 9 of the Constitution in order to build a peaceful and bright future without nuclear weapons.

New Japan Women’s Association (Shinfujin) President Kasai Kimiyo delivered an address on behalf of the organizing committee. She pointed out that this year marks 70 years after Japanese women obtained the right to vote and the Japanese Constitution was proclaimed. Kasai said that this year’s congress was a good opportunity to remember the origin and history of mothers’ movements and give a fresh boost to the movements.

Shima Yoko, chief political editor of Okinawa’s local daily, Ryukyu Shimpo, gave a speech. She noted that the Abe government is pushing forward with the plan to construct new military facilities in Okinawa in defiance of strong local opposition. Shima stressed that Abe’s act is a serious challenge to Japan’s democracy.

In the plenary, some delegates appeared on the stage and talked about their experiences in various civil movements.

A mother from Wakayama said that she and her friends have been taking to the streets two times a week to collect signatures to oppose the war legislation. She said that her group participated in a movement to persuade local bodies of opposition parties to field a joint candidate in the July Upper House election and that their efforts bore fruit.

A young woman from Kumamoto reported about her experience in which she and three other women, all of whom are in their 20s, organized a demonstration against the war laws for the first time in their lives. They had expected that their event would attract around 100 people at best, but it actually drew more than 600 people. Her report generated an enthusiastic applause from the audience.

Regarding the Abe government’s plan to construct U.S. military helipads in the Takae district in Okinawa’s Higashi Village, a local villager talked about how local people are staging protests. She stressed that if the helipads are completed and put into operation, residents as well as wild animals will be unable to continue to live in and around the Takae forests.

Past related articles:
> 11,000 women in Mothers’ Congress resolve to scrap war bills [August 2 and 3, 2015]
> Don’t send our children to war: Japanese mothers [August 3 & 4, 2014]