Tens of thousands protest in Tokyo against move to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution

KATHMANDU: Tens of thousands of Japanese citizens gathered around the Parliament building in Tokyo to protest the government’s attempt to revise the country’s pacifist constitution and to demand the protection of Article 9.

According to organizers, around 36,000 people took part in the rally. It marked the second major demonstration since April 8 against constitutional revision, with more than 30,000 people previously assembling near the National Diet building.

Protesters carried placards reading “No to war,” “Don’t weaken Article 9,” and “Resign Takaiichi,” calling for the protection of Japan’s pacifist constitution.

Japan’s 1947 Constitution is widely known as the “pacifist constitution” because Article 9 renounces war as a sovereign right and prohibits the country from maintaining military forces or war potential.

However, Prime Minister Sanae Takaiichi and Japan’s right-wing political forces have long sought to revise Article 9.

At a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) convention on April 12, Takaiichi declared that the time had come for constitutional revision and expressed plans to hold next year’s party convention with a focus on a formal proposal for amendment.

Her renewed push for constitutional change has sparked widespread concern and criticism across Japanese society.