“Article 9 is Asia’s treasure – Be aggressive to save it”: 40,000 join an action in front of the Parliament

 

KIM Youngho, the leader of the One Million Candles Movement in South Korea that ousted its former president from power, said, “Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution is Asia’s treasure. If it is lost, Japan possibly becomes another kind of militaristic country and Asia will fall into a vicious circle of an arms race. We would like Japan to be aggressive, rather than being defensive, to save Article 9. Japan can be the center of global peace movement”. His speech drew a storm of applause. The “Nationwide People’s Action against the Revision of Article 9 by Abe (Japan’s Prime Minister)” was joined by 40,000 people on November 3, 2017, the date when the constitution was promulgated in 1946. Nearly all the participants said, “Abe should resign”, “No war” and “Revision of Article 9 is absolutely unacceptable”. EDANO Yukio, the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party, appealed, “Still many people in Japan do not feel our peace constitution is in jeopardy. Spread this fact to as many people as possible who are not joining this action. Let’s make today the first step to do it”. The participants are overwhelming in their 60s or older, so it is necessary to spread the movement to the youth. (M) 

video (9.5 minutes)

「9条はアジアの宝、守りでなく攻めの運動を」〜11.3国会包囲に4万人

「9条はアジアの宝です。これがなくなったら日本は新たな軍国主義国家になる恐れがある。アジアは軍拡競争の悪循環に陥るだろう。9条を守る姿勢でなく攻めの姿勢でいってほしい。日本は世界の平和運動のセンターになれる」。韓国の100万キャンドルのリーダーであるキム・ヨンホさんがこう演説すると、大きな拍手が起きた。11月3日、憲法公布日の「安倍9条改憲NO！全国市民アクション 11・3国会包囲大行動」は、約4万人の人々で埋めつくされた。参加者にインタビューすると「安倍はやめてほしい」「戦争を防ぎたい」「9条改憲は絶対にだめ」という声ばかり。スピーチに立った枝野立憲民主党代表は、「憲法の危機感を感じている国民はまだ多くない。ここの内側だけでなくそうした外側にいる人たちに気づいてもらい、より幅広く大きな輪に拡げていこう。きょうはその第一歩にしよう」と呼びかけた。参加者は圧倒的に60代以上のシニア層で、若者にどう広げていくかが今後の課題だろう。（M） 

・動画（9分半）