A group of Japanese people gathered in front of the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo on Tuesday to voice their strong opposition to the government's sharp increase in defense spending and its continued push for the constitutional amendment.
Holding placards denouncing a series of policies adopted by the government in military expansion, the protesters expressed their strong dissatisfaction with and deep concern over such approaches.
Protesters also voiced their strong anger at the shift in the government policy from economy to military-related ones, saying that the current Japan's Constitution can never be revised.
Japan's Constitution, which took effect in 1947, is often referred to as the pacifist Constitution because Article 9 states that the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.
"During the (House of Representatives) election, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi initially focused on economic policies. However, once they (the ruling coalition) secured more than two-thirds of the seats, they began pushing forward, one by one, the very things the public least wanted. I feel extremely angry about this," said a protester.
"I believe the (increase in the defense budget) was not decided through proper and sufficient deliberation. Instead, everything was overturned in this (House of Representatives) election, and it was forcibly decided under an artificially shortened timeline. I strongly oppose this," said another protester.
"The Constitution must absolutely not be amended. The current Constitution of Japan (the Peace Constitution) must never be touched. The deployment of missiles is also unacceptable. The Japan Self-Defense Forces were originally meant solely for defense. Japan has no need to deploy missiles capable of reaching other countries. This neither prevents war nor brings any benefit. I firmly oppose it," said a protester.
"Over recent years, the (defense budget) has been increasing every year. If it were truly just for defense, there would be no need to develop offensive missiles or other weapons. Instead of pursuing diplomatic efforts, Japan keeps increasing its weaponry, and these weapons are becoming more and more destructive," said another protester.
During a Diet session on Nov.7, 2025, Takaichi said that the Chinese mainland's "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan and implied the possibility of armed intervention in the Taiwan Strait.
The protesters also expressed their concern about the changes in security policies since Takaichi took office in October 2025.
"I believe it is necessary to maintain good relations with China. As for (Takaichi) not retracting the (erroneous remarks regarding Taiwan), I find it completely unacceptable. It is truly unforgivable," said a protester.
Japanese rally to protest against record-high defense spending, govt's push for constitutional amendment
