Interview Summary of Yoshimoto Tsuji , a member of 総がかり行動実行委員会 (against constitutional revision/wants to keep the article 9)
General Info about the protest he participates in:
When we talked to Yoshimoto Tsuji, he was participating in 国会前ピースアクション (the front of the National Diet Building Peace Action). It is a protest against constitutional revision and to keep the Article 9. This peace action started 4 years ago and when the 2015 Japanese military legislation (安保法制）was passed, they decided to continue on their work until it is abolished. They protest every Friday morning from AM10:30 to AM11:30. However some people come early if they can and some stay little after (maybe until 1PM) if there are students still coming out from the National Diet Building. They are not a part of certain organizations. People with the same goals are gathering there and protesting together. Anyone who is concerned about this topic can participate. Manami Takasu, a person who came up with a movement, The Nobel Peace Prize for Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution (憲法9条にノーベル平和賞を), was also there. The Nobel Peace Prize for Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution is a social movement whose aim is to push for the Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded to the citizens of Japan for maintaining the Article 9. She is a member of Mama no Kai. Mama no kai’s catch phrase is to not let kill anyone’s children; therefore, they say left or right doesn’t matter for this issue so that everyone from left wing to right wing participates, which is very similar to the Friday Night Protest. Also, there were more people at this protest before, but many left for different reasons (job hunting, marriage, etc), which is also similar to the Friday Night Protest.
Target/Why Kasumigaseki?
Tsuji told us they decided to do it at this specific place (the front of the National Diet Building), because it is where a lot of 5th and 6th graders, who visited the National Diet Building for their school field trip, come out from the building. And the protest is toward those 5th graders and 6th graders. According to Tsuji, majority of 18 years old and 19 years old vote for LDP (he said it is because of their lack of knowledge), and the protestors do not want younger generations to vote for LDP because of their lack of knowledge. In about few years, those 5th graders and 6th graders will be able to vote and when they think about who they should vote for, Tsuji want them to remember what he was saying at the front of the Diet Building. Their actions are not something that can bring changes right away, but they are still doing it for the future. Also, since the their action is mostly toward the 5th graders and 6th graders, they try their best to use appropriate languages for 5th and 6th graders. For example, they will never say “安倍やめろ” (Abe should resign). Instead, they would say “let’s protect the Constitution” and they wave hands and make noises with a tambourine.
Relationship with Police
Most police let them put a banner on the tree, but sometimes a police tells them to take it down.When a police tells them to take it down, Tsuji tells them others let them do it in a friendly manner, because he does not want to get in a fight with a police. He wants to keep a good relationship with police like Redwolf/ check this page: https://kasumigasekiprotest.wordpress.com/2019/01/25/misao-redwolf/
Mr. Tsuji during Anpo 70s
Tsuji also participated in Anpo 70s. He was a college student during that time. He said TV news only showed radical groups such as 新左翼 (the New Left). He was not a part of radical groups. Instead of taking violent actions, he took non violent actions such as speaking up during protests or holding hands with others and march down the street. He thinks not everyone was so violent back then. However, he also believes there were less restrictions on protests back then. He wants those people who participated in Anpo 70s to participate in protests again. However, since old people do not use SNS, it is hard for him to spread information and stay in contact with people who participated in Anpo 60s and 70s. He did not participate in any protests until he retired from his work, because he did not have time even during weekends.
Other information
Tsuji is a part of couple different organizations including 子供と教育９条の会 which is almost all female members. The female members of 子供と教育９条の会 felt they need a guy when they protest, because they tend to face some difficulties when there is no male participant; therefore they asked him to join. ← same as what the comfort women group said/ check this page: https://kasumigasekiprotest.wordpress.com/2019/01/25/small-interviews/
MU
Demonstrating Space: Kasumigaseki 