TOKYO (Dispatches) - Despite the intense heat, nearly 20,000 protesters gathered outside Japan’s National Parliament (Diet) on Sunday to oppose changes to the constitution, higher military budgets, and expanding security policies. 
At the demonstration, Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Taku Yamazoe and Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima spoke in support of preserving Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution and called on the government to pursue peaceful policies.
This rally was part of the monthly “19th Action,” a lively nationwide movement led by community groups on the 19th of each month. The campaign started after Japan passed new security laws in 2015 and began discussing changes to the constitution.
Many demonstrators carried banners that read “NO WAR,” “Don’t Change the Constitution,” and “We want Nafta not (Prime Minister Takaichi) Sanae.”
The demonstrations have centered on Takaichi’s proposed amendment to Article 9, which renounces war and the use of force to settle international disputes. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party wants to add a clause explicitly recognizing the Self-Defense Forces and allowing measures deemed necessary to counter national security threats, which Takaichi claims are coming from China and North Korea.
Critics argued that the change could weaken restraints on military action, turn the Self-Defense Forces into a conventional army, and make it easier for Tokyo to become involved in overseas conflicts.
Takaichi’s government has already raised defense-related spending to around 2% of GDP with the 2026 defense budget allocating about ¥8.8 trillion ($55 billion) to long-range missiles, drones, ammunition, reinforced military facilities, and other programs. In April, the government also eased restrictions on exports of lethal weapons.
The debate has also extended to nuclear arms. An unnamed senior Takaichi adviser reportedly argued in December that Japan should possess nuclear weapons, while the prime minister was said to allegedly be considering revising the country’s pledges not to possess, produce, or allow such arms on its territory. Tokyo has maintained that its nuclear policy has not changed.