Man sets himself on fire in protest over Japan’s defense
Print Edition
A MAN set himself on fire at a busy intersection in Tokyo yesterday in protest against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plans to ease limits in the country’s pacifist constitution.
Japan is poised for a historic shift in its defense policy by ending a ban that has kept the military from fighting abroad since World War II.
As early as tomorrow, Abe’s Cabinet is expected to adopt a resolution revising a long-standing interpretation of the US-drafted constitution to lift the ban after his ruling party finalizes an agreement with its junior partner.
The man was badly burned after setting himself alight on a pedestrian bridge near the crowded Shinjuku railway station.
The Japanese man, who is thought to be in his 50s or 60s, was taken to a hospital where he remains conscious, according to reports citing local police.
The reports said that the man had made a one-hour speech opposing Abe’s administration and its efforts to lift the country’s self-imposed ban on collective self-defense rights before setting himself on fire at around 2:10pm.
Witnesses said he used a megaphone to protest plans to end the ban on exercising “collective self-defense,” or aiding a friendly country under attack.
Ryuichiro Nakatsu, an 18-year-old student, said: “He was sitting cross legged and was just talking, so I thought it would end without incident. But when I came back to the same place 30 minutes later, he was still there. Then all of a sudden his body was enveloped in fire.”
“He was yelling against the government, about collective self-defense,” Nakatsu said.
The planned change in defense strategy marks a major step away from post-war pacifism and widens Japan’s military options.
According to a recent survey by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun, about 67 percent of Japanese oppose lifting the ban through reinterpreting the constitution and 56 percent oppose relaxing the ban through any means.
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