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GLOBAL ARTICLE 9 CONFERENCE – 4-6 May, 2008 in Tokyo

posted by Jean: April 17, 2008

Since the election of former prime minister Koizumi Junichiro in 2001, a group of Japanese neo-con politicians, under the direction of U.S. neo-con counterparts, have tried to overturn Article 9, the Japanese Constitution's Peace Clause. Koizumi's theatrical visits to Yasukuni Shrine, the repository of the spirits of Japan's dead soldiers, including 14 Class-A war criminals, reflected the martial tone of his tenure. He also, in violation of the spirit and principles of Article 9, sent Japanese troops to Iraq in 2004. These actions received widespread attention in the global media.

In response to the attempts to remilitarize Japan, a nation that has not gone to war since the devastation of World II, a burgeoning Japanese countermovement is snowballing through Japan and the global peace activist community. Oddly, Japan's newest peace movement has received almost no attention by either the traditional or independent media abroad, although it centers on Article 9, one of the most important issues to Japanese citizens, and an issue of vital importance to nuclear non-proliferation and stable peace in East Asia and the world.

In 2004, Japanese intellectuals and activists including novelist Oda Makoto, philosopher Tsurumi Shunsuke and Nobel laureate Oe Kenzaburo founded The Article Nine Association (Kyujo no Kai), an NGO that supports the spirit and principles of Article 9. In 2005, PEACE BOAT, a Japanese peace, human rights, and environmental NGO, and the Japanese Lawyers International Solidarity Association (JALISA) internationalized the burgeoning grassroots Article 9 movement by forming the GLOBAL ARTICLE 9 CAMPAIGN, a global peace movement that has been supported by an ever-increasing number of Japanese civil society organizations, international NGOs and faith-based groups, and individuals worldwide.

The campaign's "Global Article 9 Conference to Abolish War" will be held in Tokyo on May 4-6, with people from all over the world attending to support Article 9, and to take the debate over Article to a global level. Japan-based eco-blogger Martin Frid (who has great photos with his post) puts it well:

"This international gathering in Tokyo will gather the voices of the world that support and share the spirit of Article 9 as the common wisdom of humanity, heritage of the world, and hope for world peace. The participants - Nobel Peace prize winners, world-renowned intellectuals, NGO activists, artists and civilians - will send the spirit of Article 9 soaring around the world."

Organizers anticipate an international declaration, a global action plan, and the launch of an international network:

"This conference will bring together the voices of the world supporting the existence and principle of Article 9. It will bring together Nobel Peace Laureates, intellectuals, cultural figures and NGO activists, and provide a forum to discuss what the citizens of the world can do to realize the principle of Article 9, through promoting disarmament, demilitarization and a culture of peace, and create an international movement for realization of 'peace without force.'

"The holding of such a conference is a concrete step in materializing the aim expressed at the Hague Appeal for Peace Conference in 1999 that " every Parliament should adopt a resolution prohibiting their government from going to war, like the Japanese article number nine. " The endorsement of Article 9 in the World Peace Forum's final statement has also greatly encouraged our campaign by supporting our ambition to stage a large scale international conference revolving around Article 9. We call for your support of the campaign and participation in the conference."

"What Is Article 9?

"1) Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.

"2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.

"What is its International Relevance?

"Article 9 is an international oath declaring 'No' to war, acting as an international peace mechanism towards reductions in military spending, promotion of nuclear-weapon-free zones, ending violence against women, supporting conflict prevention, and mitigating the negative environmental impact of the military."

Article 9 Peace Walk marchers from Nagasaki and Hiroshima have been walking since February 25, starting from the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. As they walked northward to Tokyo, they were joined by people from towns along the way. They will arrive at Hibiya Park in Tokyo on May 3 for the Constitution Memorial Gathering. On May 4, they will reach the Global Article 9 Conference site at Makuhari Messe in metropolitan Tokyo. Grassroots activists and ordinary citizens organized this symbolic support of the Japanese Constitution's Peace Clause as a message of solidarity for participants of the Global Article 9 Conference and for every person in the world who longs for authentic peace.

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