The sticky, humid night did not stop thousands of infuriated Japanese from gathering outside the Diet on July 15. Many held eye-catching placards that displayed messages such as, “Give peace a chance” and “Our future, our choice” to protest the approval of two security bills at the special committee of the Lower House.
One pro-democracy youth group, Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy (SEALDs), is credited with organizing the heated protest. Many of the roughly 175 members of the group are college students. Their fashionable and trend-conscious placards stood out in the crowd.