Rallies Held on Japan's Constitution Day

   Tokyo, May 3 (Jiji Press)--Citizens supporting and opposing a revision of Japan's Constitution held their respective events in Tokyo on Constitution Day in the country on Saturday.
   Those against amending the national charter gathered in a park in Koto Ward, with about 38,000 people attending the rally, according to the organizers.
   Senior officials from opposition parties called for not allowing the Diet, the country's parliament, to propose constitutional amendments, while underscoring the need to protect peace, lives, livelihoods and human rights by utilizing the current Constitution.
   "We haven't caused nuclear war for 80 years (since the end of World War II), and we want you to carry on our efforts," said Terumi Tanaka, 93, co-chair of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year.
   Shoji Honda, 81, who takes part in the annual rally every year, said, "It's important to build peace under (war-renouncing) Article 9 (of the Constitution)," stressing that the supreme law must not be amended.

(2025/05/04-04:05)