２００Wordsの概要
Japanese government has moved out from the decades-old peace/military policy and now declared the army can make attacks on other countries. The candidates are the only people's power to resist it.
２０００Wordsの推薦文
As the only country that experienced catastrophic atomic bombings at the end of the WWII, Japan has narrowly remained as the nation that declared, by the Article 9 of the Constitution, non-enforcement of military powers to solve international conflicts. Series of attempts have been made by the ruling parties to reform the Article and to strengthen army that can operate widely, they have been resisted by the common people's protests often headed by the candidates.
The Japan government lately announced a drastic policy change and openly announced that they would strike military bases in other countries as“self-defence”. This is apparently unconstitutional policy-change. However, influenced by tactful government strategies, the Japanese public seemed to be leaning towards accepting the policy change. As the older generations who directly experienced the WWII are replaced by the new generations without any memories of war, the value and significance of the Article 9 that stressed the importance of non-usage of military forces to avoid conflicts tends to be forgotten. The Article strongly declares that a resort to weapons never solves hatreds among peoples, and many of the Japanese actually have cherished the Article as the most important heritage left by the tragedies of the WWII. It has functioned as the symbol of peace in Japan for the world peace. Japan and the Japanese now stand at the crossroad and I think this is the critical moment for the peace of Asia and the world.
The two candidates recommended here have been struggling hard to cope with the militarization of Japan. Gathering tens of millions of signature to protect the Article 9 is one of the proofs of their extraordinary efforts. I do believe they are worthy of the peace prize, and the grant would very much empower the people not only in Japan but also around the world who are working hard to keep peace on the earth.
