Massive protests held in Japan marking 3rd anniversary of controversial security laws

Protesters participate in a gathering in Tokyo, Japan, on Sept. 19, 2018. Thousands of people across Japan rallied Wednesday to protest against the controversial security laws that were enacted by the parliament three year ago. Over 5,000 protesters gathered in Hibiya Park, downtown Tokyo on Wednesday evening, calling for scrapping the controversial security laws. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)

TOKYO, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of people across Japan rallied Wednesday to protest against the controversial security laws that were enacted by the parliament three year ago.

Over 5,000 protesters gathered in Hibiya Park, downtown Tokyo on Wednesday evening, calling for scrapping the controversial security laws.

Tetsuro Fukuyama, secretary general of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), said at the gathering that the security laws violated Japan's pacifist Constitution and the people would continue to fight for scrapping the controversial laws.

At another gathering near the parliamentary building, Hitomi Sugiura, a representative of a civil group dedicated to filing lawsuits against the controversial security laws, said that as of September this year, 25 such lawsuits had been filed with 22 courts across Japan with over 7,500 plaintiffs.

She said that the controversial security laws eroded into Japan's pacifist Constitution and could drag Japan into wars, and it's hoped that the lawsuits could alert people of the risks brought by the controversial laws.

Japanese military critic Tetsuo Maeda said that since the new security laws were enacted, integration between the U.S. military and the Japanese Self Defense Forces has been deepening, and the Japanese government has also been trying to revise the pacifist Constitution.

He called upon people to take actions and prevent such movements that could bring danger to Japan.

Protests of various scales were also held in the prefectures of Hokkaido, Niigata, Yamagata and Kagoshima.

The Japanese government forcibly enacted the controversial security laws on Sept. 19, 2015, which, marking a significant overturn of Japan's "purely defensive" defense posture, caused widespread concerns and criticism both at home and abroad.