Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was heckled at a World War II memorial event by protesters angry about Tokyo’s further shift away from its decades-long pacifist stance, television footage showed.
Close US ally Japan in April loosened rules on lethal arms exports and Takaichi, long seen as a security hawk who last year riled China with comments about Taiwan, has said she wants to revise the constitution.
A small but vocal number of demonstrators shouted slogans throughout Takaichi’s speech on Tuesday at an event commemorating the 81st anniversary of the end of the savage 1945 Battle of Okinawa in which some 200,000 Japanese died.
The jeers included “No to war!” and “Protect Article 9!”, a reference to a clause in Japan’s constitution that renounces war, the footage showed.
“Whenever I reflect upon the regret of all those who perished in the war and the grief of the bereaved families, my heart is filled with profound sorrow,” Takaichi said in the address.
“Under our unwavering pledge never again to repeat the devastation of war, Japan has steadfastly moved forward on this path as a nation that places the highest value on peace,” she said.
Recent months have seen regular protests about the shifts in policy under Takaichi, which have also prompted an angry response from China which accuses Japan of reviving its wartime “militarism”. — AFP
