A 16-year-old high schooler has fashioned herself into a new breed of political activist to make change happen in a pacifist country where endemic voter apathy is feared to be letting Japan drift dangerously to the right.
Aine, who uses only her first name, formed the student protest group T-nsSOWL in June last year. The group's name is said to stand for "teens stand up to oppose war law."
The name is a reference to the new national security laws enacted last year. The laws, championed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, pave the way for the Self-Defense Forces to take on more dangerous missions overseas, an initiative seen by many as breaching war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution. The laws were enacted amid mass protests at the Diet in September.