Mitsu Dan wears pin in support of constitution on TV

TOKYO (TR) – Amid calls by the government to revise Japan’s constitution, a female celebrity on Sunday wore what a pin that appears to oppose the initiative on a television program, reports news site J-cast (May 7).

On the TBS weekly variety program “Sunday Japon,” gravure (pin-up) idol and actress Mitsu Dan, 34, sported a broach that is a mix of the universal nuclear disarmament symbol and the numeral nine, which is very likely a reference to the constitution’s war-prohibiting Article 9.

Sunday marked the 68th anniversary of the establishment of the constitution, which was drafted by the U.S. following the conclusion of World War II.

After a two-year lapse, Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, lead by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has in recent weeks resumed a push to revise Article 9.

On May 1, a group of lawmakers began soliciting signatures to institute a national referendum to revise the constitution following the upper house election in 2016. Proponents of a revision say the document is outdated.

On the same day that Dan appeared on television, participants at a rally in Yokohama voiced their opposition to a revision. Among those in attendance was 80-year-old Nobel laureate and writer Kenzaburo Oe. In a speech, he defended the constitution and criticized Abe’s attempts to change it.

The pin worn by Dan, who rose to popularity in 2013 following the release of the SM film “Be My Slave,” was designed by Sasquatch Fabrix. The word “peace” is used in a catalog by the company to describe the graphic.

A representative of Fit One, the agency for Dan, did not have an explanation for the pin, which garnered a substantial amount of interest on Twitter.

“It was the work of the stylist who attached it to her clothes,” said the representative. “It wasn’t anything in particular.”