Some 37,000 people have gathered around the Japanese National Diet building, the location of the country’s congress. They were protesting against the controversial security laws that came into effect Tuesday.

Mass protests as controversial law takes effect in Japan

Protesters demanded for the retraction of the new legislation because of its unconstitutional nature, which allows Japan to send troops overseas for the first time in 70 years. They also held posters that read “War is over,” “Retract the security laws immediately” and “Abe administration step down.”

“He [Abe] has always been a big liar. I don’t trust him at all. Japan will be dragged into war, and the conscription system will resurge. And Japan would once again become a warring country,” one protester said.

“The new security law is a serious violation of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution. It’s well known that the Constitution aims to reflect Japan's history of waging invasion wars,” said Osamu Watanabe, Professor Emeritus of Hitotsubashi Univ.

“In order to maintain peace in Asia, what Japan can to do is to avoid establishing an army like they had before the war (WWII).”

Japan’s legal field also widely believes the new security laws pushed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is against the Constitution. Some 600 lawyers are reportedly launching a joint law suit over the issue in late April.