Tokyo 45,000

News in Brief

On 14 September, there was a large peace demonstration in front of parliament in Tokyo as the government of prime minister Shinzo Abe prepared to pass legislation ‘re-interpreting’ the Japanese constitution. Abe wants to allow Japanese troops to fight abroad for the first time since the Second World War. Organisers claimed 45,000 people attended the march.

An earlier demonstration on 30 August drew about 120,000 protesters, according to organisers. At one point during the 30 August event, hundreds of demonstrators chanted the key phrases of anti-war Article 9 of the constitution; the ‘peace clause’.

On 19 September, the upper house of parliament passed Abe’s laws, despite polls showing 60 percent of people in Japan oppose changes in the constitution.