MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On September 19, 2015, the Japanese upper house of parliament approved a package of security bills overturning Japan’s pacifist constitution and paving the way for its military deployment abroad.
"Although the bills were enacted, the citizens’ protests have not ended ahead of the Upper House election," Jun Shiota, a member of the coalition said as quoted by Kyodo news agency.
The coalition, including different citizens' groups, pledges to hold regular rallies in support of the Japanese opposition parties that last month submitted two bills to parliament to rule the recently approved security legislation as unconstitutional.
The security legislation contested by the opposition abolishes an article in the Japanese Constitution that renounces the use of force in settling international disputes, allowing Japan’s co-called Self-Defense Forces to be sent overseas for the first time since World War II.