The citizens of Tokyo have taken to the streets to protest the government’s latest controversial decision. Lining the street near a hotel where politicians were meeting, the protesters held placards and chanted slogans. But why are they protesting? Why is this latest government action causing so much controversy? BRIC Plus News gives you all the key information, and the background to this breaking demonstration.
The government wants to pass a security bill
Japanese politicians met on Wednesday as the penultimate step in the implementation of the security bills. This raft of new military legislation is slated to pass later this week. The Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s coalition government Liberal Democratic Party has a parliamentary majority in the upper house. The Japanese parliament is known as the Kokkai, Japanese for ‘National Diet’. It is a bicameral legislature, and Abe’s party posses a comfortable number of seats. The coalition formed of Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito has 325 of the 475 seats in the House of Representatives (the lower house), and 134 of 242 seats in the House of Councillors (the upper house). The bill already passed in the House of Representatives. In light of this, the measures are expected to go through.
They are very controversial
‘War is over!’ Scuffles in #Tokyo as peace protesters rally against Abe’s militarism http://t.co/iu4Iu3z1BE pic.twitter.com/MLPPAVajBw
— RT (@RT_com) September 16, 2015
The new raft of security bills essentially challenge the founding doctrine of post-World War II Japan. Since the end of the Second World War, which saw untold devastation in the detonation of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan has been a nation committed to pacifism. Written in its 1947 constitution are the words ‘never again shall we be visited with the horrors of war through the action of government’. These words enshrine Japan’s position as a nation committed to peace, and reluctant to engage in warfare for its own sake. Critics of the security bills argue that they violate these principles. Part of the legislation allows for the use of ground troops in foreign countries. The bill is supported by the United States, and many fear that Japan will be drawn into foreign wars at their behest.
The government thinks they are necessary
Shinzo Abe’s government is holding firm on introducing the legislation. Although the country is still gripped with anti-war mindset, the government consistently claims that it has no other option. The dispute in the South China Sea over the Senkaku Islands, provides a constant shadow of future combat with China. On Wednesday, Russian military jets were spotted in Japan’s airspace, prompting the deployment of four Japanese jets to intercept the aircraft. Japan has been impacted by ISIS, with hostages being taken, and its own citizens going to join. In the face of hostility from international actors, Abe’s government feels that these measures, which are tantamount to a major revision of the country’s ethos, are justified. With strong anti-war feeling entrenched within the population, it is almost certain that many more protests will soon be on the horizon.
