Japan's pop band slashes government's war bills

A group of young pop protesters slashed Japan's security bills on Tuesday saying they are involving Japan into wars and endangering Japan's future generations.

The pop band Seifuku Kojo Iinkai (SKI) or Uniform Improvement Committee, consisted of four teen girls and one graduate student, were in the headlines recently when their performance of a song calling for the overthrow of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration made the city of Yamato, Kanagawa Prefecture withdraw municipal support for an event on protecting the Constitution at a local health and welfare center.

"The LDP, the root of all evil," the group sang during the event. "Let's remove the LDP from power." The municipal government of Yamato said the band's lyrics were too political.

Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo, Yuria Saito, member of SKI expressed her concerns about the war bills that would engage the county into wars. "When we think about the future of our children and how peaceful Japan can continue to exist, we realize our work is still very much ahead of us," she said.

Japan's upper house of parliament began discussions of the controversial security bills on Monday despite an ongoing public backlash that has seen hundreds of thousands including more and more young protesters took to the streets. If enacted, the bills will allow Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to exercise the right to collective self-defense despite Japan's war-renouncing constitution banning the SDF from doing so.

The group which is focusing on the weaker side of the society sing songs about environmental conservation, anti-nuclear and war and other social issues. They group also performed an anti-nuclear song that has become a popular chant at major anti-nuclear rallies named "Get! Get! Get Rid of Nuclear Energy!" in front of the journalists at the press conference.

The group criticized the government for covering up the true situations of the areas surrounding the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant after the 2011 earthquake. Yuria said approximately 130 children have been diagnosed with cancer and the government still encourages normal people to return to the areas that are of questionable safety. "I think that's wrong," she said.

Facing criticism from the government and the right-wingers of the public for their songs, Noa Saito, another member of the group, said though they don't have the right to vote now, they still have their right to express their opinions and speak up. "I feel very strongly that if we are defeated by the criticism and do not speak up as a result, our silence will be taken as a silent support for the government's opinions," she said.

As this year marks the 70 anniversary of WWII, the group said they felt they had the responsibilities to convey the messages of the people who lived through and after the war to future generations as they are passing away now. Endi