Japan workers protest military marchers

Photo: AJAC

Workers gathered in downtown Sasebo in Japan’s Nagasaki Prefecture on Oct. 20 to protest an appearance by the Japanese armed forces—called the Self-Defense Force of Japan—who were marching down the streets carrying machine guns.

This was the second time the SDFJ marched in downtown Sasebo, the first occurring two years ago. It was a sign of the increasingly aggressive posture of the SDFJ, signaled by the Japanese government’s decision to revise the Japanese Constitution and formally hold armed forces marches. The SDFJ is currently taking part in the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, making it a party to an aggressive war.

Workers in Sasebo expressed their anger at the SDFJ’s new openly aggressive stance by staging a sit-in and chanting, “Stop your armed march! End the occupation of Iraq!”

—Secretary Kikuchi Takao of the
Anti-war Joint Action Committee