Thousands of Japanese citizens gathered outside the National Diet building on Wednesday evening to protest the government's push to revise the nation's pacifist constitution and expand its military capabilities, demanding that authorities refocus resources on improving people's livelihoods. The demonstrators voiced strong opposition to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's efforts to amend Article 9, the constitutional clause that places Japan within a peaceful institutional framework through the ironclad provisions of a permanent renunciation of war and the maintenance of no regular military forces.
"I deeply oppose war. I hope we can all live together in peace. That's why I oppose any revision of Article 9 of the Constitution," said a protester.
"The Takaichi administration is fixated on military expansion, but there are so many other things the government should be doing. People's lives are already so difficult. It makes me angry. It's absolutely intolerable that the Liberal Democratic Party wants to revise the constitution. They have their hands dirty with 'black money', tax evasion and other issues, yet they still want to touch the constitution with the same dirty hands. That can't be tolerated," said another.
The Japanese government has been continuously pushing for an increase in defense expenditures and has deployed long-range missiles in regions such as Kyushu, the third-largest and the southernmost of Japan's four main islands.
Many expressed anxiety that Japan is drifting toward a more militarized posture.
"The Japanese government is continuously increasing its support for the military-industrial complex. In the future, Japan might end up becoming like the United States. That gives me a sense of crisis," a third protester said.
"The continuous increase in defense spending frightens me. I hope these money could instead be directed toward improving our daily lives and healthcare," said another.
Regarding the intrusion of an active-duty officer of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF) into the Chinese embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday, the protesters condemned the act as a result of a broader rise in far-right and exclusionist rhetoric in Japanese politics.
They urged the government to promptly address the incident and hold the intruder accountable.
"This was tantamount to a terrorist attack. I believe Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi should immediately step down and resign. Moreover, there is absolutely no benefit in antagonizing a neighbor like China. Japan should acknowledge its mistake and apologize. Fundamentally speaking, I feel that there is currently a far-right, strongly exclusionist atmosphere spreading in Japan," another protester said.
Thousands rally in Tokyo against constitutional revision, military buildup
