Japan's ruling bloc to vote on security bills as opponents make last-ditch protest

Protesters lie down arm in arm together as a police officer tries to clear them in front of the venue hotel for a public hearing on the security legislation in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015. Opposition lawmakers and thousands of demonstrators were making last-ditch protests in a political showdown Wednesday as Japan's ruling party started a final push to pass security legislation to expand the role of the country's military. (Yohei Fukai/Kyodo News via AP) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)

Protesters lie down arm in arm together as police officers try to clear them in front of the venue hotel for a public hearing on the security legislation in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015. Opposition lawmakers and thousands of demonstrators were making last-ditch protests in a political showdown Wednesday as Japan's ruling party started a final push to pass security legislation to expand the role of the country's military. (Kyodo News via AP) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)

In this Sept. 15, 2015 photo, Aki Okuda, a leader of the student group known as SEALDs, or Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracies, speaks during a hearing at the committee on the security legislation in the parliament's upper house in Tokyo. Opposition lawmakers and thousands of demonstrators were making last-ditch protests in a political showdown Wednesday as Japan's ruling party started a final push to pass security legislation to expand the role of the country's military. (Kyodo News via AP) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)