Arab News Japan

TOKYO: A united front was on display in Hibiya Park in central Tokyo on Friday, as a massive demonstration voiced its strong opposition to the World Health Organization’s revision of the International Health Regulations (IHR), a pandemic treaty on COVID-19 vaccination.

Member of Parliament HARAGUCHI Kazuhiro, a Former Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, spoke at the demo, with his voice heavy with regret and sorrow, saying, ‘Lives that should not have been lost were lost. As a Diet member, I deeply apologize to all of you.’

Keio University Professor Emeritus KOBAYASHI Setsu commented to Arab News Japan, “As with the vaccine issue, Japanese politicians have become increasingly inclined not to inform the public properly, but merely tell us to listen to whatever they say. As a constitutional scholar, regarding the revision of emergency provisions and local government laws, I felt uneasy about the government’s tendency to urge people to follow them without saying anything.”

A man who traveled overnight from Kochi Prefecture in western Japan expressed his personal conviction, saying, ‘I am here to voice my dissent as an individual who will not blindly follow the government’s directives.’

After the rally, the protesters marched through the upmarket Ginza shopping district, calling for “opposition to the revision of the IHR” and demanding that the government investigate the harm caused by vaccines.