In a chaotic session rife with yelling and wrestling, the ruling bloc bulldozed two disputed security bills through a special committee in the Upper House on Thursday, taking the penultimate step toward enacting legislation that will subvert Japan＊s pacifist approach to world affairs.
The bills, designed to expand the types of overseas missions that can legally be undertaken by the Self-Defense Forces without amending the Constitution, were expected to be enacted by a full session of the House of Councilors later in the evening or early Friday.
When Yoshitada Konoike, chairman of the special committee, tried to put the bills up for a vote at around 4:40 p.m., dozens of lawmakers from the opposition camp mobbed him in an attempt to stop the procedure. Lawmakers from the ruling bloc then rushed to protect him, turning the session into a mob scene.
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