China News Service, November 9. According to Japan's "Aka Flag" report, recently, the "Nine Articles of the National Council of Chiefs" organized by the current and former heads of Japanese local governments held a meeting to oppose the Takaichi Sanae government's move to revise the "Three Security Documents", strengthen the military and expand its military, and other trends to create a "war country", and opposed the revision of Article 9 of the "Peace Constitution".
"Constitutional amendments must be stopped"
According to reports, Masahiko Shimizu, a professor of constitutional law at Nippon Sports University, pointed out at the meeting that the Liberal Democratic Party’s proposal to amend the constitution to clearly include the Self-Defense Forces in the constitution will expand the scope of the exercise of the right to collective self-defense. He called on more people to be informed that this is not just about writing the Self-Defense Forces into the constitution.
Tamaki Dani, former governor of Okinawa Prefecture, said that Japan-US joint exercises have continued one after another and the Japanese government continues to expand its armaments. Against this background, the importance of promoting peace education has become highlighted.
In response to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's statement that he would strive to achieve certain progress in the constitutional amendment motion by the spring of 2027, participants at the meeting objected that "the current issue is how to prevent the ruling party from advancing the constitutional amendment" and called for more measures.
The report pointed out that Satoko Kishimoto, the mayor of Tokyo's Suginami Ward, said that "peace"-related policies had not been a high priority among local governments before, and she was determined to promote them to become "the highest mission of local governments."
Japanese people continue to protest
Recently, the Japanese government’s “remilitarization” trend has triggered widespread concern and opposition in Japan. Popular protests broke out in many places in Japan.
On November 3, the 80th anniversary of the promulgation of Japan’s current constitution, more than 10,000 people held rallies in Tokyo and many other places in Japan. People chanted “protect the constitution” and “oppose war” to protest against the Gao city government’s push to amend the constitution.
Japan's "Mainichi Shimbun" published an editorial that day and pointed out that the Japanese government can only achieve peace by playing a diplomatic role and insisting on advocating "no war"; if it follows the United States in pursuing the so-called "peace through strength" and aspires to become a military power, it will deviate from the spirit of the Constitution. The editorial warned: “We must never forget what the Constitution stands for.”
Some Japanese people held a rally in Tokyo on the 6th, demanding that the Japanese government adhere to the "three non-nuclear principles" and objecting to the Japanese government's promotion of arms expansion and departure from the pacifist constitution.
On the other hand, Japan's "Yomiuri Shimbun" reported on the 7th that in order to cooperate with the upgrade of the 15th Brigade of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force in Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture to a division, the "Type 16 Mobile Combat Vehicle" had been transported to the local area on the 5th. This is the first time this type of combat vehicle has been deployed in Okinawa Prefecture, triggering protests from local people.
Japan's "Ryukyu Shimbun" published an editorial to express strong protest, saying that the deployment of equipment designed for ground warfare must not be allowed, and asked Okinawa Governor Genta Koshe to face up to the matter and carefully examine the impact of this deployment on people's lives.
