Aiming to enact a bill to provide relief to victims of air raids during the Pacific War, an organization formed by victims and others began collecting signatures from supporters on the 19th.
Unlike military personnel and civilian war victims, civilian war victims involved in air raids and ground battles during the war are not eligible for compensation by the government, and a bipartisan parliamentary coalition made up of parliamentarians has compiled a bill to provide a "special benefit" of 1,50 yen per person to those who are injured and have disabilities or scars, but it has not yet been submitted to the Diet.
The National Air Raid Victims' Liaison Council, which is formed by victims and others, has started an activity to collect signatures from supporters with the aim of enacting the bill as soon as possible amid the aging of the victims, and on the 19th, about 20 people called on passers-by to cooperate in front of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
The petition will be held every Thursday during the opening of the Diet, with the goal of collecting 2,50 signatures by the end of February next year, and will be accepted by e-mail and fax, after which it will be submitted to the Prime Minister and the Presidents of both houses of the House of Representatives.
Yumiko Yoshida, 3, who lost her parents and sister in the Great Tokyo Air Raids and was orphaned at the age of three, said, "We don't have time anymore. I hope that understanding will spread to the Diet and the general public as much as possible."
Regarding the tense situation in Israel and Palestine, he said, "The children's expressions of anxiety and fear overlap with my own, and it really breaks my heart."