OSAKA -- Around 500 people marched through the city here Wednesday evening to voice their opposition to the possible use of violence by the U.S. during its likely retaliation for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
Demonstrators in the Peace Walk event, organized by a group of young people, called on the U.S. not to answer violence with violence. They also called on the Japanese government not to support any U.S. military action that may bring more violence.
"I want all the participants to complete the walk peacefully to spread the message to other people," Mutsuko Katsura, an Ibaraki City Assembly member in Osaka and one of the organizers, told participants before the walk. Some demonstrators carried placards that read "No War" and "No Violence," while others carried flowers.
The marchers gathered in Nakanoshima, Kita Ward, before marching to the Osaka City Hall, the U.S. Consulate and the Osaka Central Post Office near JR Osaka station.
Before the antiwar rally, the organizers submitted a letter of condolence for the terrorist attack to the U.S. Consulate. They then requested the U.S. refrain from using violence to retaliate for the attack.