TOKYO (Kyodo) — Four founders of the Article 9 Association, including Nobel literature laureate Kenzaburo Oe, expressed concern Monday over moves to revise the pacifist Constitution under the newly launched government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

“I earnestly hope that citizens will mount a completely new movement (to defend the pacifist Constitution),” Oe said in a written appeal issued at a press conference held by the association on the first day of the regular Diet session.

The three others — writer Hisae Sawachi, constitutional scholar Yasuhiro Okudaira and philosopher Shunsuke Tsurumi — also issued their own appeals.

“Article 9 of the Constitution currently faces the gravest threat ever,” said Sawachi in her statement, referring to the war-renouncing clause.

“We intend to strengthen our efforts” to protect the Constitution, said Yoichi Komori, secretary general of the association and professor at the University of Tokyo. “We want to encourage debate (on the issue) so many people will understand the importance of Article 9 at the grass-roots level.”

The Article 9 Association was founded in 2004 by nine intellectuals to counter moves for constitutional revision. Of the nine founders, four, including writer Makoto Oda, have passed away.

Kyodo Press