更新 2014-7-8付中日/東京新聞記事
新宿駅前で焼身自殺図る 集団的自衛権反対を主張
２９日午後２時１０分ごろ、東京都新宿区のＪＲ新宿駅南口の歩行者用横断橋上で、拡声器で「集団的自衛権反対」などと主張していた男性が、自分の体に火を付け自殺を図った。病院に運ばれ、全身のやけどで１～２カ月の重傷だが、命に別条はないという。
新宿署によると、午後１時５分ごろに「男性が橋の鉄枠に乗り、拡声器でしゃべっている。ガソリンの臭いがする」と１１０番があった。男性は地上約２０メートルの鉄枠の上に登っており、警察官が下りるように説得したが、約１時間後、ペットボトルに入ったガソリンのような液体をかぶり、ライターで火を付けた。
男性は５０～６０代でグレーの背広姿だった。同署で身元を調べている。現場は甲州街道に架かる横断橋。日曜日で多数の買い物客がおり、周囲は一時騒然となった。
近くにいた大学生新開鴻起さん（２１）によると、男性は鉄枠の上にあぐらをかいて座り「７０年間平和だった」「戦争しない」「政教分離」などと話していた。「君死にたもうことなかれ」と、与謝野晶子の詩の一節を口にした後、火を付けたという。CHUNICHI
Japanese man self-immolates in pro-pacifist constitution protest (GRAPHIC CONTENT)
Edited time: June 29, 2014 15:17
A middle-aged man has set himself on fire in the center of the Japanese capital in an apparent protest to government plans to change Japan’s pacifist constitution. Authorities hosed the man down and immediately rushed him to hospital.
In a dramatic act of protest, the protester scaled a pedestrian bridge outside a main train station in the Shinjuku neighborhood. He then proceeded to make a speech through a megaphone condemning Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plans to expand the use of the Japanese military by reforming the constitution.
Since the end of World War II, the Japanese constitution has forbidden the use of military force against other nations. It may only use its armed forces in self-defense.
After finishing his speech, the activist doused himself in what appeared to be gasoline and set himself ablaze in front of hundreds of onlookers.
"He was sitting cross legged and was just talking, so I thought it would end without incident. But when I came back to the same place 30 minutes later, he was still there. Then all of a sudden his body was enveloped in fire," Ryuichiro Nakatsu, an 18-year-old student who witnessed the incident, told Reuters.
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING VIDEO IS VERY GRAPHIC(ビデオ閲覧注意）
A video appeared on YouTube showing the authorities hosing down the man, before paramedics took him away. The man’s current state is unknown.
Conservative, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe believes that the pacifist constitution unfairly restricts Japan from exercising its right to collective self-defense. He announced plans in May to modify the constitution to allow Japanese troops to intervene in combat missions abroad.
Abe’s cabinet could finalize a resolution as early as Tuesday, but the measure must be approved by the party’s junior coalition partner, which has a strong pacifist tradition. The controversial proposal has polarized Japanese society, with many opposing Japan’s possible involvement in overseas conflicts.
However, advocates of the bill argue that a nuclear North Korea and an emboldened China mean that Japan must take measures to sure up security for the future. Japan is currently embroiled in a fierce territorial dispute with China over a set of islands in the South China Sea known to the Japanese as the Senkakus and the Chinese as the Diaoyus.
The islands are uninhabited, but the surrounding area is believed to be rich is oil and gas resources