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Japan Peace Summit Draws Thousands

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From Associated Press

Nearly 10,000 people attended a Tokyo conference Saturday opposing the government’s drive to change the pacifist clause of Japan’s Constitution, organizers and news reports said.

Article 9 of the constitution, drafted by U.S. occupation forces and unchanged since 1947, bars the use of military force in settling international disputes. It also prohibits maintaining a military for warfare, though the Japanese government has interpreted that to mean the nation can possess armed forces for self-defense.

Saturday’s meeting was organized by the Article 9 Assn., a group established by supporters of the pacifist clause, including Mutsuko Miki, widow of Prime Minister Takeo Miki, who held office from 1974 to 1976.

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“I experienced wars during my 88 years of life,” Miki told the crowd at Ariake Coliseum, Kyodo News agency reported. “I hope Japan will be a peaceful country without armed forces by maintaining Article 9.”

Japan has deployed noncombat troops in southern Iraq since last year in its first troop dispatch to a combat zone since 1945. Tokyo is also relaxing its ban on arms exports to help joint construction of a missile defense program with the United States.

Polls indicate that a majority of Japanese support amending the constitution to more clearly define the military’s role and its right to aid allies but want to maintain the pacifist clause.

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