SEALDs, short for , was a

student activist Student activism or campus activism is work by students to cause political, environmental, economic, or social change. Although often focused on schools, curriculum, and educational funding, student groups have influenced greater political e ...

organisation in Japan that organised protests against the ruling coalition headed by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Shinzō Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 202 ...

in 2015 and 2016. Its focus was on the

security-related bills In 2015, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party promoted legislation, passed on 19 September 2015, despite some public opposition, to allow the country's military to participate in foreign conflicts, overtur ...

enacted in 2015 that allow the

Japanese Self-Defense Force The Japan Self-Defense Forces ( ja, 自衛隊, Jieitai; abbreviated JSDF), also informally known as the Japanese Armed Forces, are the unified ''de facto''Since Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution outlaws the formation of armed forces, the ...

to be deployed overseas. Most of the core members of the SEALDs were involved with a predecessor movement, Students Against Secret Protection Law (SASPL), that protested against Shinzo Abe's

Special Secrecy Law The State Secrecy Law, officially the , Act No. 108 of 2013, is a law in Japan allowing the government to designate defense and other sensitive information as "special secrets" that are protected from public disclosure. History Proposed by the sec ...

from February to December 2014. After the secrecy law was passed, the members went on to form SEALDs on May 3, 2015,

Constitution Memorial Day is a public holiday in Japan. It takes place on May 3 in celebration of the enactment of the 1947 Constitution of Japan. It is a part of the collection of holidays known as Golden Week (Japan), Golden Week. History After the Atomic bombings of H ...

in Japan, to highlight what they believed was Shinzo Abe's blatant disregard of the Constitution. They were especially worried that the Abe cabinet, which enjoyed a majority in both Houses of the Japanese Parliament, would railroad their legislation to reinterpret

Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution is a clause in the national Constitution of Japan outlawing war as a means to settle international disputes involving the state. The Constitution came into effect on 3 May 1947, following World War II. In its text, the state formally renounces t ...

, allowing Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defence and potentially deploy troops on foreign soil. ( Such legislation was passed on September 19, 2015.) On August 30, 2015, the SEALDs was among protesters who surrounded the

National Diet Building The is the building where both houses of the National Diet of Japan meet. It is located at Nagatachō 1-chome 7–1, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Sessions of the House of Representatives take place in the south wing and sessions of the House of Councillors ...

in Tokyo. Estimates of the size of the crowd ranged from 30,000 to 120,000. Such a large student movement had not emerged in Japan since the anti-war protests of the 1960s, which forced Shinzo Abe's grandfather

Nobusuke Kishi was a Japanese bureaucrat and politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. Known for his exploitative rule of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in Northeast China in the 1930s, Kishi was nicknamed the "Monster of the Sh� ...

to resign as Prime Minister. However, in contrast to the

Zengakuren Zengakuren is a league of university student associations founded in 1948 in Japan. The word is an abridgement of which literally means "All-Japan Federation of Student Self-Government Associations." Notable for organizing protests and marches, ...

, whose radicalism eventually alienated the public in the 1960s, the SEALDs attempted to be moderate and non-partisan. Branches of SEALDs sprang up in various places around Japan. SEALDs KANSAI was established in May 2015, SEALDs TOHOKU on July 20, SEALDs RYUKYU in Okinawa on August 15, and SEALDs TOKAI in Nagoya on September 7. On December 20, 2015, SEALDs co-founded the Civil Alliance for Peace and Constitutionalism with the

Association of Scholars Opposed to the Security-related Laws The , previously known as the , is an organization of scholars opposed to Japan's 2015 military legislation, which was founded in June 2015. History The Shinzo Abe cabinet pushed for a constitutional amendment in 2015 to allow Japanese militar ...

, Save Constitutional Democracy Japan, Mothers Against War and All Out Action Committee (Sogakari). The security laws were enacted on March 29, 2016. SEALDs organised a protest in front of the Parliament building the day before. SEALDs' activities ranged from holding demonstrations, protest rallies and marches, organizing study groups and talk events, to creating booklets, pamphlets and videos, using social media. They also moved around the country to support various movements and candidates, such as the protests in Okinawa against the US military base and the Hokkaido by-elections in April 2016. SEALDs disbanded on August 15, 2016, one month after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party won a supermajority in the Upper House election. However, co-founder Aki Okuda (奥田愛基) stated that the campaign was not over and urged all of Japan's politicians to continue to protect the Constitution.

References

External links

SEALDs Website

SEALDs English Website

SEALDs KANSAI Website

SEALDs RYUKU Website
{{Authority control 2015 establishments in Japan 2016 disestablishments in Japan Organizations established in 2015 Organizations disestablished in 2016 Anti-militarism Student protests in Japan Human rights in Japan Shinzo Abe