URGENT ACTION NEEDED TO SAVE JAPAN'S PEACE CONSTITUTION

A coalition of Japanese citizens are seeking help in raising money to place an ad in a major Japanese newspaper. The Koizumi administration is prepared to submit an Emergency Law (Yuji Hosei) to the Diet (Congress) which will enable Japan to fight again, not only in case of an emergency, but also anywhere else in the world. This coalition of acivists needs your help to preserve Japan's 55 year old tradition of pacifism.

Allowing this constitutional manipulation to take place would completely abrogate one of the most celebrated outcomes of World War II; the 1947 Japanese "Peace Constitution", which states in its preamble: "We, the Japanese people, acting through our duly elected representatives in the National Diet, determined that we shall secure for ourselves and our posterity the fruits of peaceful cooperation with all nations and the blessings of liberty throughout this land, and resolved that never again
shall we be visited with the horrors of war through the action of government, do proclaim that sovereign power resides with the people and do firmly establish this Constitution.

Article 9 of the same 1947 Constitution reads: "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."

"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."

The Japanese government has already, in a clear violation of Japan's present peace constitution, sent its Self Defense Force(SDF)in support of US military action in
Afghanistan. This is the first time the SDF has entered an active war area since World War II.

Now, the Koizumi government is apparently preparing to submit an Emergency Law (Yuji Hosei), to the Japanese diet (congress) which will enable Japan to fight again, not only in case of an emergency in Japan, but also anywhere
in the world as part of Japan's commitment to an alliance with the U.S.A. It has been reported that the Japanese government is trying to pass this amendment quietly.

We are your help in raising the money needed buy a full-page ad in the major Japanese daily, Asahi Shinbun, in order to mobilize the Japanese people to preserve their "Peace Constitution" and oppose the Yuji Hosei amendment. If the coalition is to raise enough money, the ad
will appear in May 3rd issue (Constitution Day in Japan).

It will cost about $180,000 to bring this issue to the attention of the Japanese public. In October 2001, the Global Peace Campaign (Japan), with assistance from Veterans For Peace (USA), raised almost $200,000 from the Japanese public for ads in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times denouncing a militaristic response to the events of 9/11.

Veterans For Peace would like to reciprocate by urging all indymedia readers to support this crucial effort by donating whatever you can to:

Global Peace Campaign
Harmonics Life Center
1047 Naka, Kamogawa, Chiba, Japan 296-0111
Tel:81-470-97-1011

Or, if you live in the US, you can save on postage by sending your checks to:

Veterans For Peace
438 No. Skinker
St. Louis, MO 63130

Please inscribe "Japanese Peace Constitution" in the memo. VFP will transfer the funds to the Global Peace Campaign.

For those who do not know about the Global Peace Campaign, or its co-founder, Yumi Kikuchi, more can be learned at:

http://www.peace2001.org

Since we have just recently received this appeal, we are working on a short timeline. The deadline for raising this money is April 20. Please respond immediately.

Thank you so very much for being part of this historic defence of peace.