Komeito joins Human Rights Watch to help protect schools in wartime

May 31 , 2018

Miura spoke at a Safe Schools study session on May 30Miura spoke at a Safe Schools study session on May 30

On May 30, Nobuhiro Miura, Komeito member of the House of Councillors and head of his party’s Youth Bureau, joined the international Human Rights Watch NGO to take part in a study session on the Safe Schools Declaration. The declaration, which many nations have agreed to support, aims to protect schools from attack and military use during wartime.

A number of high school students supporting the initiative also spoke at the study session, which was held in the Upper House building, to share their views. One such student was Hina Kobayashi, who, together with her peers from other high schools in Tokyo, introduced a case study showing that military use of schools actually declined in a country that signed the declaration.

Ms. Kobayashi and other volunteer students have already conducted a nationwide campaign to collect more than 10,000 signatures calling on the Japanese government to become a signatory to the declaration.

Students from Nagasaki and Okinawa prefectures also participated in the study session via video chat.