Still Deeply Divided

After one month from the passage of new security bills, Japan looks like still deeply divided in two. Young protesters gathered in central Tokyo to appeal their opposition to the law approaching war on Sunday. In the mean time, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was on board American aircraft carrier in Yokosuka, trying to demonstrate more integrated bilateral military relation than in last month. Those events represented a structure of Japanese society in which current regime was ignoring civilians with background of military power.

Hachiko Square in front of Shibuya Station is a symbol of young generation to meet friends in weekend. Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy s held a meeting there to protest new security legislation. “Do not forget that coercive passage of new security bills. Let us raise our voices, because it is an issue that threaten our ordinary life,” appealed a senior of International Christian University, Jinshiro Motoyama, to the audience.

Forcing of the passage by Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito ignited broad anger of young agers, reminding them of preciousness of liberal democracy. “Although we might have gone backward a little on the road of seventy years of slow progress, I can’t give up the Constitution and its written concept,” told Rin Saito, a sophomore in Doshisha University. Another student on the stage insisted on the importance of thinking, having opinion and delivering it by oneself.

One of the leaders of SEALDs, Aki Okuda, showed himself to the event only for a short time, because his activity is limited by someone’s blackmailing. He received a mail which indicated murder of him and his family, causing police to bodyguard him in his college campus. While he required young people to take volunteer action in daily life, radical conservatives are searching opportunity to oppress liberal democracy.

Political leaders seem not to be bothered by that young movement. PM Abe attended triennial Fleet Review of Maritime Self-defense Force offshore Kanagawa on Sunday. “This is an era in which any single country can no longer manage only by itself. I hope you to make further contributio

n,” Abe encouraged member of MSDF with his routine expression to justify new security legislation. After reviewing the fleet, Abe demonstrated his involvement in Japan-U.S. alliance, making speech on U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, in which he praised the name of aircraft carrier as a symbol of bilateral close tie.

A serious misunderstanding of political leaders is that they think current movement against Abe administration will be ceased soon. But, some university professors are preparing for a lawsuit against national government. Middle and old agers are following their sons and daughters, or grandsons and granddaughters, raising new protest organizations. Abe administration has yet realized what they really did.