More than 1,200 protesters gathered outside the Diet building Thursday in a last-ditch effort to thwart the controversial state secrets bill, which the Diet is expected to pass Friday.
Opponents of the bill argue it gives the government too much authority to designate and conceal state secrets.
A 36-year-old housewife, who declined to be named, criticized the law as a sign that Japan is sliding back into its prewar militarism, citing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's resolve to revise the pacifist Constitution and assert the right to collective self-defense.