Tens of thousands of peace-loving Japanese citizens participated in a rally in Tokyo on Constitution Memorial Day on Saturday to show their support for peace and express their opposition to constitutional amendments. Observed on May 3 every year, the memorial day commemorates the 1947 enactment of Japan’s pacifist constitution, which includes Article 9, a clause that renounces the nation’s right to engage in war or to resort to military force to resolve international conflicts.
At the rally, participants displayed banners reading “Protect the Constitution, Safeguard World Peace” and voiced concerns about the growing push for military expansion.
“Japan’s current constitution prohibits the country from waging war. However, there is an increasing movement within Japanese society pushing for constitutional amendments,” said a participant.
“The key point is that Japan must never wage war again. Japan has previously invaded China, the Korean Peninsula, and Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines. We must ensure that aggression will never happen again,” said another participant.
Taku Yamazoe, a Japanese senator, also joined the rally and emphasized the importance of maintaining a pacifist constitution to ease regional tensions.
“Amid Japan’s ongoing military buildup, and proposals for closer integration with the United States to strengthen its military forces and efforts to fuel regional tensions, it is even more crucial to reaffirm and demonstrate the importance of a diplomatic approach based on a pacifist constitution,” said Taku Yamazoe.
Some participants argued that the Japanese government should focus more on improving the people’s livelihood rather than expanding military forces.
“This is my wallet, and there is some money in it. The key question is, where should this money be spent? Should it be used for the military or for social welfare? When asked where it should be allocated, I believe that rather than spending it on the military, it should be invested in improving people’s lives, or in other words, in the field of social welfare,” said a participant.
Rally held in Tokyo on Japan’s Constitution Memorial Day to honor peace, oppose constitional amendments
A young entrepreneur in Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, is transforming lives by running a chain of restaurants where all staff members are hearing impaired.
Guan Shuai is the founder of Xiaomanwusheng, a restaurant chain that has become a symbol of empowerment and inclusion for the hearing-impaired community.
Founded in 2021, Guan’s seven restaurants that offer customers healthy food have provided employment to over 30 hearing-impaired individuals, offering them more than just jobs, but also dignity and purpose.
Guan was motivated to start the venture after witnessing the challenges hearing-impaired individuals face in the job market, often overlooked due to perceived communication difficulties.
“We didn’t think a lot at the beginning. We simply wanted to help some hearing impaired people around us earn a living, and to help them find employment. Our starting point was a very simple idea,” said Guan.
Today, his restaurants are staffed entirely by hearing-impaired employees from across the country who work across all departments from cooking and management to food delivery.
Customers place their orders by scanning a QR code at their tables or ordering online, making the dining experience seamless and barrier-free.
Guan is proud of his team’s performance and dedication.
“I believe they are very excellent. They have high efficiency and their own principles, which are the qualities that the food industry needs. Once the working environment is comfortable, they wouldn’t resign and they love the job,” said Guan, noting that they also work harder to share expertise with the new staff members.
For Guan, the restaurants are more than just a business. He sees them as platforms for personal growth and inclusion.
He hopes his work continues to inspire others and expand opportunities for the hearing-impaired community — not just in Chengdu, but across the nation.
Chengdu eatery chain uplifts hearing-impaired workers
AloJapan.com