Tokyo suicide in protest at Japan's switch to 'collective self-defence'

A man burned himself to death in Tokyo in an apparent protest against Japan's controversial move to expand the role of its military, local media said yesterday, after a similar incident earlier this year.

The unidentified man's body was found on Tuesday evening in Hibiya park, which sits just next to the Imperial Palace in the heart of the country's administrative district, Jiji Press news agency and the Asahi newspaper said.

Tokyo police suspect that the man set himself on fire in the park, where he left letters protesting against Tokyo's endorsement of the right to exercise so-called "collective self-defence," the reports said.

Local police said that they considered the case to be a suicide, adding the man left a protest note and a camera that was used to record the scene of his self-immolation, according to the Japan Times. The note was addressed to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and chiefs of both chambers of parliament, stating opposition to the bill that granted Japan collective self-defence rights, according to Japan's public broadcaster NHK.

In July, Abe's cabinet announced it had loosened restrictions on the military in a highly controversial shift from the nation's pacifist stance.

Ahead of that announcement, another man railed against the policy as he set himself ablaze on a pedestrian walkway in Shinjuku, one of Tokyo's busiest districts, while passers-by looked on in horror.