National Diet Building and Protests in Japan

The National Diet Building in Nagatacho, Tokyo, recently became the site of large-scale demonstrations against proposals for constitutional revision and expansion of Japan’s military role.

Completed in 1936, the 65-metre-tall neoclassical structure houses Japan’s bicameral legislature—the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors—and serves as the centre of the country’s legislative authority. Protesters expressed concern that proposed changes could dilute the pacifist principles embodied in Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution.

APSC Relevance: Comparative polity, Japan’s Constitution and contemporary global political developments.