Share Article 9 worldwide
To our regret, our campaign
to “Award the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize to the Japanese citizens who have
maintained Article 9 of the Constitution” was not fulfilled, but we believe
that we successfully drew worldwide attention and we were just one step away
from winning the prize. On October 10th, we awaited the formal announcement
of the Nobel Prize Committee before over 100 news reporters and many TV
cameras. The result was regrettable. However, we would like to confirm with the
more than 440,000 people who gave signatures and those who take pride in
Article 9 that we will continue our campaign.
Alfred Nobel, who invented
dynamite, established the Nobel Peace Prize. He wished for the progress of
humanity and world peace. The Constitution of Japan came into being on the
basis of the deep sorrow Japan derived from the atrocities it perpetrated upon
Asian peoples during WWII, and the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb tragedies.
Our resolution that we will never again repeat war is included in Article 9. But
with the passage of 70 years since the last war, the Japanese people seem to
have forgotten the significance of the article, almost as if we forgot the
importance of air and water, even though we live our daily lives protected by it.
Reading the Constitution again, we feel profound history and wisdom included in it. Haiku poet Matsuo Basho
advocated “Fueki-Ryuko” (Immutability and
fluidity). Immutable principles of universal humanity are included in the
Constitution, especially in Article 9. But as we all notice, that “Oath of
no-war” is gradually being broken down.
On July 1st, the
Abe Cabinet greatly damaged the noble ideals of the Constitution by making a
decision allowing the exercise of the right to collective self-defense. We
wonder if Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who always advocates Japan as a
law-abiding country, notices that he has gravely violated this supreme law. His
decision is nothing short of a serious crime which might endanger the fate of the
nation. Song writer Nakanishi Rei says, in his lyric “Youngsters, never go to the
battlefield”:
“Why is that the Supreme
Court voices no complaint toward such a crucial constitutional violation?”
The
Abe Cabinet, without going through the correct procedures for constitutional
amendment, has been pushing forward with
breaking down the Constitution and trying to make Japan a country that can wage
war.
Right now however, the
Constitution of Japan is still alive and well. We need to resist this
outrageous act “through every conceivable democratic way based on the Constitution.”
Otherwise, Japan may become involved in a disastrous war again. We think that when
the Japanese people have successfully defended the Constitution against Abe’s
law-breaking scheme, the people will truly be worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize. This
year the Nobel Prize Committee selected as the two awardees people who have
risked their lives fighting to improve human rights situations in their
countries, and maybe they were trying to show us, the Japanese people, the way
forward.
Looking back at the
activities of the past year, we find we have reached a new perspective. The
world is in a deep confusion and turmoil. The wealth of the world is
concentrated among a handful of people, and the rest are afflicted with
poverty. Amid disputes of increasing frequency, hatred produces hatred. We
wonder how mankind will overcome this cycle of hatred and disparity between
rich and poor. The Nobel Prize Committee may itself be seeking a resolution.
We want to end conflicts around
the world. We also want to eliminate poverty all over the world. The
Constitution of Japan stands on a noble ideal that liberates every people of
the world from oppression and discrimination, and aims for a society where
everyone can be respected as a person. In particular, Article 9 matters most
since it clearly stipulates renunciation of war, non-possession of arms and denial
of belligerence. We believe that spreading of the article in all the countries
of the world will stop these problems from getting worse and lead to dialogues
for solving them.
Every year nominations for
the Nobel Peace Prize are received between September 1st and February
1st. Signatures of support can be accepted until just before the announcement
of the year’s awards in October. In 2015 we will renew our campaign to “Award
the Nobel Peace Prize to Japanese citizens who have maintained Article 9 for
nearly 70 years”.
Our aim will be to collect
1 million signatures for the day when all the people of the world can share
Article 9!
October 11th,
2014
Executive Committee for
“The
Nobel Peace Prize for Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution”
