Protesters in Tokyo Chant 'This Is What Democracy Looks Like'

Thousands of protesters gathered outside Japan’s parliament in Tokyo for a second night on Thursday evening, July 16, to protest over new security bills which could allow Japanese forces to fight overseas for the first time since the Second World War. Protest organizers Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy claimed that 60,000 people joined the rally voicing opposition to the lower house of the Diet approving the bill.

Opposition politicians had earlier staged a protest inside the lower house shouting, waving placards and mobbing committee chairman Yasukazu Hamada in a bid to halt the vote.

This footage shows protesters chanting, “This is what democracy looks like,” a slogan popularized during demonstrations against police brutality in the United States. Credit: Facebook/Kimihiko Ootsuru