CRI听力:Japan's defense policy concerns mother of Self-Defense Forces officer

55-year-old Kazuko Taira has a son who serves in Japan's Self-Defense Forces.

She lives in the city of Chitose on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido.

Taira has been hospitalized since the end of last month after suffering a major bone fracture.

Despite her condition, she says her son has not come to visit her, and is pointing the finger at the policy changes for Japan's military as one of the main factors.

"A friend told me that the Self-Defense Forces unit where my son is on service would be dispatched to South Sudan for a mission. What's more, the unit would probably be assigned new missions after the new security laws are implemented. I was extremely worried, without knowing what would happen next. I thought I could not be silent anymore."

Taira is one of thousands who have attended rallies in Japan, appealing for people to protest against the Japanese government's new defense policies.

"Since I took to the street with a microphone and delivered speeches, my son repeatedly told me it was not good. I said to him: 'If you are criticized by your superiors because of my action, and you feel distressed, I can disown you. It's for your own good.' Then I wrote a letter to disown him."

Taira says as the mother of a solider, she says its painful to think that one day her son could be sent to a battlefield outside of Japan.

"I strongly oppose the new security bills and the arms expansion policy that the Abe administrations pushed forward. I brought up my son not for sending him to the battlefield to kill people. We Japanese people must introspect on the history of aggression carefully and keep peace with our neighbors. I believe everything would be fine. We can't allow Abe to shift the Pacifist Constitution into a constitution of war. I hope I could go to more places to deliver speeches in public. I wish Japan could be more peaceful in my efforts."

Chitose, with a population less than 100-thousand, is a military community in northern Japan.
Around one-quarter of the population comes from families, or has relatives, who are Japanese Self-Defense Forces soldiers.

Through the implementation of the new defense policies, an increasing number of protests have been taking place in Chitose, with people there concerned about their loved ones dying in battle overseas.