Among the protesters, the "mothers" and "students" are the most concerned. Oriental IC diagram
In the drizzle in Tokyo, mothers hold their children’s hands and stand on the street in front of the National Assembly.
On August 30, 2015, about 120,000 people in Tokyo, the capital of Japan, gathered in front of the National Assembly Hall to oppose Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his security bill.
This demonstration included all Japanese citizens of all ages, from babies in the arms of their mothers, students in school uniforms to white-haired old people, and there were also family forms of dragging their children with their daughters. Among the protesters, the "mothers" and "students" are the most concerned. These two groups of people, who usually pay little attention to politics, have now become emerging forces against Shinzo Abe and the security bill.
In addition to ordinary Japanese nationals, men, women and children, there are also many voices of opposition in Japanese politics. Five former prime ministers have collectively voiced their voices a few days ago, criticizing Abe and its security law. Representatives of the four major opposition parties also strongly condemned the Abe government in the protests on the 30 th.
It is reported that the protest on the 30th spread over more than 300 places in Japan, which was the largest organized and planned civil street protest against the government in Japanese history.
The Awakening of "Mother Family" and "Student Family"
On August 30, in the drizzle in Tokyo, mothers stood on the street in front of the National Assembly holding their children’s hands to protest against the security bill that may be passed by the Senate in September. According to this bill, the constitution will be reinterpreted to expand the role of the Japanese Self-Defense Force.
Some of the demonstrators held anti-war slogans in their hands, while young students chanted slogans against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his national defense policy along with the drums. In addition to holding the usual slogans such as "opposing the war", "protecting the Constitution" and "no collective self-defense" and shouting slogans, they also appeared the big-character theme slogan "Abe steps down".
According to the Associated Press, in the past, most people who participated in protests in Japan were trade union members or white-haired leftists. But many new faces have appeared in the recent protests. Among the Tokyo citizens who participated in the "Great Action of Surrounding the National Assembly" on the 30th, many were ethnic groups who had not participated in the protests in the past.
The Associated Press said that Japanese people usually do not express their political positions in public places. As early as 1960s, Japanese college students held many demonstrations, some of which turned into violent incidents. Since then, the street rally protests of Japanese students have been greatly reduced.
After the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, a large number of people took to the streets in Japan to oppose nuclear weapons, including many "mothers". The Associated Press said that at least some of these anti-nuclear demonstrators now seem to have turned their focus to the debate on the security law.
Japan’s "Anti-war Mothers" organization was established last month, which quickly attracted many supporters through international social networking sites. At present, 20,000 people have jointly signed against the security law. On August 28, the organization tried to hand over the joint signature to Abe’s office, but failed.
Etsuko Matsuda, a 40-year-old member of "Anti-war Mothers", told the Associated Press without any worries that she had seen too many things going in the wrong direction, including the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the recent restart of nuclear power plants in Japan.
"I think there are more and more people like me, and we know that under the administration of Abe’s government, our life will only get worse." "I hope more people are interested in politics and can stand up and speak freely."
Japanese "mothers" and "students" who are usually not interested in politics have now taken to the streets. With the addition of new groups and the help of online social media, the street political movement in Japan has gradually changed more.
However, it is still unknown whether these growing and expanding demonstration groups can lead to significant social changes. A few days ago, the anti-nuclear demonstrations have gradually subsided, and once the security bill is formally passed by the Senate in September, whether the demonstrations and assemblies against the security law will also suffer the same fate has attracted a lot of attention.
Former Japanese Prime Minister and opposition party collectively voiced Abe.
Japan’s "Daily News" reported on August 30th that five former Japanese Prime Ministers, Hosokawa Morihiro, Tsutomu Hata, Tomiichi Murayama, Yukio Hatoyama and Naoto Kan, voiced their voices one after another a few days ago, criticizing Abe for ignoring national demands, undermining Japanese constitutionalism and amending the "right to collective self-defense" and demanding that he immediately withdraw the security bill.
A group of 50 old Japanese journalists held a press conference to publicize the suggestions made by five former Japanese prime ministers to Shinzo Abe.
Hosokawa Morihiro, the former prime minister, said that Abe’s government’s lifting of the ban on collective self-defense by amending the constitutional interpretation showed its "lack of respect for constitutionalism" and demanded the withdrawal of the security bill.
Former Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata said, "The right of collective self-defense is absolutely not allowed, and Article 9 of the Constitution is a promise made by Japan to the international community that it will not go the wrong way again".
Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama criticized Abe, saying that "it is necessary to strengthen the provisions limiting the implementation of the right of collective self-defense in the Constitution". Lushan also asked Abe to make a correct decision, from "building a war country" to "building a peaceful country."
Tomiichi Murayama, the former prime minister, criticized Abe for "unforgivable attitude of forcibly passing the bill by dint of large numbers and despising the people" and called for "saving Japan from Abe".
Naoto Kan, the former Prime Minister of the Democratic Party, criticized Abe for giving priority to the future of Japanese nationals in realizing his grandfather’s will, accusing Abe of "violating constitutionalism and being unqualified to be the prime minister of a democratic country" and demanding Abe’s resignation.
According to South Korea’s "Chosun Ilbo" report, in addition to the five former prime ministers, Japan’s four major opposition parties also collectively voiced their condemnation of Abe and its security laws.
At the rally on 30th, Katsuya Okada, representative of the Democratic Party of Japan, shii kazuo, chairman of communist party, Tadashi Yoshida, leader of the Social Democratic Party, Ichiro Ozawa, representative of Life Party and Tar? Yamamoto and their partners, delivered speeches at the rally respectively. Four opposition party representatives once again criticized the security bill and called for unity to overthrow the Abe regime and withdraw the security bill.
In addition, Ryuichi Sakamoto, a Japanese composer, and other famous people also delivered speeches saying, "This is an important period to regain democracy" and encouraged the demonstration team.
The demonstration participant, 73-year-old Masanobu Matsuda, said loudly, "The government should know the anger of the people."
According to the BBC report, the "Great Action of Surrounding the National Assembly" on the 30th attracted about 120,000 people to gather in front of the Tokyo National Assembly Hall, exceeding their original target of 100,000 people. More than 300 places in major cities such as Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka also held rallies at the same time. However, the number of people counted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is "more than 30,000".
With regard to future planning, the General Action Implementation Committee, which is in charge of demonstrations, told BBC reporters that "in the future, not only protests will last until September 25th every weekend, but also lectures, concerts, photo exhibitions and other activities will be held in various places. We also hope to take advantage of the public’s awareness that it is an important political choice period after the war, and continue to advocate peace, anti-nuclear and other related activities."
According to a survey conducted by Asahi TV on August 22nd and 23rd, 22% of the respondents were in favor of the security bill and 55% were against it, while 60% of the respondents thought it was unnecessary to set it up in this session of Congress. With the rise of public opinion against the security bill, the major Japanese polls have one thing in common: the support rate of the Abe regime continues to fall.
