The Young Lawyers Association for The
Future of Freedom (ASUWAKA: Japanese abbreviated title) is an organization
which is composed of young lawyers who are concerned about the Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan's plans to revise the Japanese Constitution.
ASUWAKA was established on January 2013,
and has over 340 members as of September 2014.
To protect Constitutionalism and Democracy,
ASUWAKA objects to the LDP's plans to revise the Constitution, enact the
Designated Secret Protection Law, make de facto constitutional changes through
new interpretations of constitution, and so on.
ASUWAKA's main activity is to inform people
who are indifferent to politics of these problems, teach them about the
Constitution and give them the opportunity to think about these problems and
the Constitution.
For this purpose, ASUWAKA provides
leaflets, picture-story shows, books and you tube videos.
They explain the importance of the
Constitution, the dangerousness of LDP's plans to revise the Constitution, the
problem of de facto constitutional changes through interpretation of the
Constitution and exercise of right of collective self-defense against peaceful
Constitution, and so on.
ASUWAKA also provides Constitution
Cafés(Kempo-Cafe).
In Kempo-Cafe, people who haven't actively
taken part in politics, non legal professionals, housewives, students, etc. can
learn about constitution in a relaxed atmosphere in certain cafés, restaurants,
bars, etc.
After Kempo-Cafe, some participants
voluntarily plan Kempo-Cafes of their own, and they spread the idea of
Constitution by themselves.
ASUWAKA has held Constitution Cafe more
than 150 times all over Japan.
In addition to seminars on the
Constitution, ASUWAKA has held over 500 informative opportunities.
