May 2023 Issue
English Version of the “Article 9 Association (A9A)” Bulletin and News
This is the translated version of the Japanese edition of the Bulletin and News published in April 2023.
It is published by Katsuyuki Nara of the New English Teachers Association (or Shin-Eiken,

http://www.shin-eiken.com/) and Sarah Brock. The translation is on our own．
Uploaded on May 10th, 2023

English version No. 269

Ariake Park Gathering against SDF Buildup and Constitutional Change
On May 3, Constitution Day, groups including

Administration's

militarybuildupandthe Article 9 Association held the Rally forconstitutional revision. We envision the May 3

Protecting Peace, Life and Livelihood at Ariake

Constitutional rally as a springboard to raise ourDisaster Prevention Park in Tokyo. Across thevoices, saying “no to military expansion and nocountry

constitutional amendment.”

peoplemettooppose

theKishida

Following in the Footsteps of Kenzaburo Oe:

A9A National Exchange Meeting: Stop Massive Military
Buildup and Constitution Amendment!
A9A Founder and organizer Nobel Laureate Oe Kenzaburo passed away on March 3,2023. During the period of private mourning before the announcement of his death,the A9A secretariat passed a plan for a national activity exchange meeting.
1. Date: May 28th (Sun.) 1:30 pm ~ 4:30 pm.
2. Venue: Nihon Education Hall, Meeting Room 1
Participation Fee: ¥ 1,000 (students ¥ 500)

Activity reports from A9A groups across the country.
Togane City A9A, Chiba Prefecture
Our group is 17 years old. The group
maintained a steady signature collection
campaign, regular study meetings, standing
demonstrations and other activities. TheThe

standing demonstration against national
security-related laws has happened 100 times.
One day during our March signature
campaign, two senior high school students
came asking, “What are you doing here?” We
answered, “We’re doing a campaign basicallysaying that ‘We hate war‘”. We told them,“Older people make war, but it is you young
people that are sent to battlefields”, and the
young students nodded and said, “Work hard!”

conversion encouraged us greatly. We felt,“Young people seriously respond to us if wecall upon them.”Uniting with Citizens Across the CountryNansatsu A9A Group in Kagoshima Prefecture
Formed in 2005, the Nansatsu A9A aims
to promote the importance of Article 9 of theJapanese Constitution, which renounces war

homework task on "how to cope with the crisisand make proper choices." The core members
worked hard to raise awareness of the crisisand prohibits Japan from maintaining armedforces. Because Minami Satsuma is a ruralcity,
located40-50kmsouthwestofKagoshima City, our group faces challenges inreaching citizens who live far from theprefectural capital. To address this, we haveamong citizens and ramp up efforts to oppose
the military buildup. However, our efforts
faced weak responses when trying tocommunicate with people outside our group.
This was partly due to the Russian invasionof Ukraine, which shook faith in thecommitted to holding three lectures ormeetings per year and publishing a
newsletter as part of our “ learning andaction ” initiative. Each member has also

persuasiveness of Article 9.
The members felt somewhat frustrated at
the difficulty of sharing anger andindignation
towards
theKishidaadministration for its violation of theconcepts of the pacifist Constitution. As aresult, we began organizing mini-learning

attempted to recruit at least 10 people who
oppose the amendment of Article 9. Since its
inception, the group has grown from 77 toaround 170 members.
Last November, before the Cabinet's
approval of the Three Security Laws,
including amajor security overhaul
allowing Japan to move toward counterstrikecapability, our group invited a lawyer to givesessions in four locations to return to ourbasic principles. On April 28th, we called fora Citizens' Assembly Against the Road to War
in front of a COOP supermarket store.
(Secretary-General: Kochiro Hori)(Translatedby Sadao Hiroyama)a lecture. The lecturer assigned us aKempo-Café Gathering: Tax Expert Unravels Gov’t Trick in Drastic Tax Increase
Tokorozawa Media & Culture group of A9A, Saitama Pref..
On March 18th, Tokorozawa A9A Media andnational budget would increase by 1.6 times fromCulture Group held a Kempo-café (Constitution

the current level to 43 trillion yen over the next fivecafé) at a community center in Tokorozawa City,
Saitama. A Kempo-café is a gathering that focuseson the topics of the Constitution which participants
freely share their views in. The café featured alecture by Hiroaki Urano, a licensed tax accountant
and former professor of law of faculty at Rissho
University. About 30 people attended.
In his speech, Urano unraveled the clever tricks
the government is using to promote its policy ofincreasing military expenses. He predicted that theyears to 2027.

current political situation continues, revenue will be

From his expertise as a tax specialist, Urano
pointed out PM Fumio Kishida’s device an issue ofcoveredbyincreased

consumptiontaxandgovernment bonds.”

government bonds inserted into the 2023 financial

Urano concluded his speech by citing thebudget, amounting to 43 billion yen, to build

consumption tax cuts bill jointly submitted by four

warships and submarines for the SDF. Urano points

opposition parties, including the Constitutionalout that the Financial Act has never allowed theDemocratic Party of Japan and the Japaneseissue of government bonds for war expenditures, asCommunist Party in the House of Representatives

World War II taught the hard lesson of how

last year. Urano called on the audience to be moreoverissuing wartime bonds supported Japan’sinterested in tax issues because if as many people asrecklesspossible are interested in these movements, we canwar.

UranocriticizedtheKishida

Administration for breaking with precedent bychange the balance of power.

creating a new exception.

294 Issue of“The biggest source of tax revenue now is the(Reprinted from thetheTokorozawa Media & Culturegroup of A9A) (Translated by Toshikazu Izumi)

consumption tax,” said Urano. “As long as the--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Note:*

マスコミ・文化九条の会：Media & Culture group of A9A** 浦野広明(うらの・ひろあき)：税理士、元立正大学法学部法学科教授。日本民主法律家協会副理事長
Hiroaki Urano : Licensed tax account, Former professor of law of faculty at Rissho University, and Vicedirector of the Japan Democratic Lawyer’s Association[END]