Grassroots movements take aim at security bills

TOKYO  — Young Japanese opposed to the passage of the government’s controversial security bills looming in the current Diet session have discovered some political backbone and are making their voices heard on a mass scale. Encouraged by a group called Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy, or SEALDs, young people who generally shun political activism […]

Protesters rally across Japan against controversial security bills

TOKYO  — Students, mothers and other protesters staged rallies at more than 200 locations across Japan on Aug. 30, calling for the scrapping of controversial security legislation that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to enact to strengthen the role of Japanese forces abroad. A major rally in front of the Diet building in central Tokyo […]

Hiroshima marks 69th A-bomb day amid worries over Japan security role

HIROSHIMA — Hiroshima marked the 69th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing on Aug. 6 amid growing concern over the Japanese government’s move to expand the country’s defense capabilities, with survivors, peace activists and dignitaries braving heavy rain to attend an annual ceremony to remember the attack and those who perished. In his Peace Declaration […]