Huge protest in Tokyo as Japanese citizens refuse war contribution

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Huge protest in Tokyo as Japanese citizens refuse war contribution

By Kiyoshi Takenaka
Updated

'War' reforms draw wave of Japanese protesters

Tokyo: Tens of thousands of protesters gathered near Japan's parliament building on Sunday to oppose legislation allowing the military to fight overseas, the latest sign of public mistrust in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's security policy.

In one of Japan's biggest protests in years - organisers put the crowd at 120,000 - people of all ages braved occasional rain to join the rally, chanting and holding up placards with slogans such as "No War" and "Abe, quit".

Demonstrators swarmed into the street before parliament's main gate, the size of the crowd size making it impossible for police, out in heavy numbers, to keep them to the sidewalks. A nearby park area also filled with protesters.

Protesters against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's security bills outside the National Diet building in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday.

Protesters against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's security bills outside the National Diet building in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday.Credit: Bloomberg

The rally was one of more than 300 this weekend in Japan protesting Abe's move to loosen the post-war, pacifist constitution's constraints on the military.

"Sitting in front of TV and just complaining wouldn't do," said Naoko Hiramatsu, a 44-year-old associate professor in French and one of the Tokyo protesters.

"If I don't take action and try to put a stop on this, I will not be able to explain myself to my child in the future," said Ms Hiramatsu, holding a four-year-old son in her arms in the thick of the protest.

In July, Mr Abe pushed through parliament's lower house a group of bills that let Japan's armed forces defend an ally under attack, a drastic shift in Japan's post-war security policy.

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Students on a hunger strike oppose Japanese Prime Minister Shizo Abe outside the parliament in Tokyo on Friday.

Students on a hunger strike oppose Japanese Prime Minister Shizo Abe outside the parliament in Tokyo on Friday.Credit: AP

The bills are now before the upper chamber, which is also controlled by Mr Abe's ruling bloc and aims to pass the legislation before the parliament's session ends on September 27.

Mr Abe's ratings have taken a hit from opposition to the security bills. Media surveys show those who oppose his government outnumber backers, and more than half are against the security bills.

Thousands protested in Tokyo on Sunday against a new push to expand the role of the Japanese military.

Thousands protested in Tokyo on Sunday against a new push to expand the role of the Japanese military.Credit: Bloomberg

"We need to make the Abe government realise the public is having a sense of crisis and [is] angry. Let's work together to have the bills scrapped," Katsuya Okada, head of Japan's largest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, told the Tokyo rally.

The demonstration was the biggest in Tokyo since the mass protests against nuclear power in the summer of 2012, after the March 2011 Fukushima atomic disaster.

Police take security measures as people protest outside the National Diet parliament building in Tokyo, on Sunday.

Police take security measures as people protest outside the National Diet parliament building in Tokyo, on Sunday.Credit: Bloomberg

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Shezo Abe's security bills passed parliament's lower house on July 16.

Shezo Abe's security bills passed parliament's lower house on July 16.Credit: Bloomber

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