Civic groups, trade unions and professional guilds have issued statements opposing the government's reinterpretation of the pacifist Constitution to allow the exercise of the right to collective self-defense.

Among them were the Japan Federation of Bar Associations and all the 52 local bar associations across the country. Also adding their voices were film directors and screenwriters with the group Eigajin Kyujo no Kai, led by animated film director Isao Takahata, and the Japan Federation of Newspaper Workers Unions, known as Shimbun Roren.

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations, made up of all the country's local bar associations, has since March 2013 issued five statements opposing the reinterpretation of the Constitution.