Tens of thousands protest at military bills outside Japan parliament

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Tens of thousands protest at military bills outside Japan parliament

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 30 August, 2015, 6:26pm
UPDATED : Monday, 31 August, 2015, 12:00pm

Agence France-Presse in Tokyo

People hold placards and shout slogans as they gather to protest against Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's security bill outside the parliament in Tokyo. Photo: Kyodo/Reuters

Tens of thousands rallied outside Japan’s parliament Sunday to protest against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push to expand the powers of Japan’s military amid a territorial dispute with China.

A growing number of people, including university students and young parents, are joining protests against the controversial bills as Abe’s ruling party gears up to pass them before the current session ends late next month.

Holding placards reading “No war,” “Peace not war” and “Stop the security bills”, chanting demonstrators filled the street in front of the Diet (parliament).

A huge banner reading “Abe should step down”, adorned with black and white balloons, was carried through the crowd.

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In one of Japan’s biggest protests in years, people of all ages braved occasional rain to join the rally, chanting and holding up placards with slogans such as "No War" and "Abe, quit". Photo: AFP

Among the protesters were Japanese musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and opposition party leaders including Katsuya Okada, head of the Democratic Party of Japan.

Organisers said about 120,000 people took part in the rally in Tokyo, and similar demonstrations were held across Japan. A police estimate was not immediately available.

Relatively small street demonstrations are frequent in the capital. But on Thursday a group of Tokyo university students staged a rare hunger strike outside parliament to protest at the legislation.

They said they would continue as long as possible.

On Wednesday the national bar association took part in a Tokyo protest rally with academics and citizen groups.

A demonstrator flashes the peace sign as he protests in Tokyo. Photo: EPA

The proposed bills have been welcomed by the U.S., which wants support from its biggest Asian ally to help balance China’s growing assertiveness in the region. Other governments in Asia are also largely supportive, apart from China and South Korea, which are at loggerheads with Japan over territorial disputes and interpretations of history.

Abe and his supporters say the bills are necessary for Japan to deal with the changed security environment.

The legislation is deeply unpopular among the general public and public support for Abe’s government is declining.

A constitution imposed by a post-war US occupation force barred Japan’s military from combat except in self-defence.

The bills cleared the powerful lower house last month.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg