China's Adora Cruise announced on Friday that it will jointly roll out a film-themed sailing season with the Changchun Film Studio Group Company Limited from late March to late June.
The first "Maritime Film Festival" sailing season will open on March 29 at Adora Magic City, China's first domestically built large cruise ship, while will also be held at two other large cruise ships -- Adora Mediterranea and Piano Land.
During the themed sailing season, some 100 classic films and popular new releases will be screened in theaters on the cruise ships and on their in-cabin TV channels.
And a wide variety of film-related cultural activities will also be held on the vessels.
The new sailing season marks the cruise giant's effort to take advantage of China's booming culture-tourism market.
The company said it has been improving its services by diversifying cultural offerings to give the customers more interactive and immersive experience.
China's cruise giant to launch film-themed sailing season
A group of Japanese peace activists gathered outside the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday to protest the government's push for constitutional revision and the lifting of a ban on lethal weapons exports.
The Japanese government officially revised the "Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology" and related implementation guidelines on April 21, allowing overseas sales of weapons, including those with lethal capabilities.
Kyodo News, a Japanese news agency, said the changes mark a significant shift in the country's defense policy, noting that it has long touted itself as a "peace-loving nation" under its war-renouncing Constitution since its defeat in World War II.
The protesters accused the Takaichi administration of lifting the export ban without sufficient debate or deliberation in the National Diet.
"Without full discussions in the National Diet, the government just arbitrarily decided on arms exports and made various excuses for it. Also, regarding the incident of intrusion into the Chinese embassy, the government has not issued an apology. Japan should be on friendly terms with neighboring countries, yet it engages in actions that incite confrontation. [Constitutional revision] is truly disturbing. Especially nowadays, the Liberal Democratic Party and Prime Minister Takaichi are pushing for arms exports in order to build a nation capable of waging war. This is absolutely unacceptable," one female protester said.
"As a matter of fact, it [lifting the ban on lethal weapons exports] was arbitrarily decided by the cabinet without any consideration of people's opinions. Revising the pacifist constitution will undoubtedly harm Japan's national interests. I sincerely hope that the Takaichi administration will stop this practice," a male protester said.
"Article 9 of Japan's constitution has gradually, to some extent, been distorted by various faits accomplis. While Japan is nominally a 'peaceful country,' this is not the case in reality," another female protester said.
Protesters rally in Tokyo against arms exports, constitutional revision
