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M
ay 3rd is Japans Constitution Day and a national
holiday. Article 9 of Japans Constitution clearly
renounces war. Therefore, it is called a peaceful
Constitution, but Japanese are beginning to debate whether Article 9
should be revised or not.
Article 9 of the Constitution is described as below.
1) Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and
order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign
right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of
settling international disputes.
2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land,
sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be
maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be
recognized.
Clause 1 describes the principle and few people object, while
Clause 2 is an issue for argument. In Japan, there has been a dispute
for a long time over whether having a self-defense force is constitu-
tional or not.
To begin with, Japans Constitution was created after the Second
World War by the U.S. with the aim that America would not allow
Japan to rearm. The interpretation about the right of self-defense has
been changed due to changes in the international environment and
U.S. policy.
In 1946, one year after the
war, then Prime Minister
YOSHIDA Shigeru remarked
in the Diet, It is better not to
admit any form of the right of self-defense. All recent wars broke out
under the name of defense. The concept of a defensive war itself is
harmful.
However, in 1950 when the Korean War broke out, the American
military, at that time stationed in Japan, moved to Korea. As a result,
the National Police Reserve was created with the goal of maintaining
public order in Japan. Over the years, the National Police Reserve
evolved into the present-day Self Defense Force.
The Interpretation of the Limits of Self-Defense
Force Activities has been Enlarged
After the Korean War, America hoped to make Japan a military
base against the Communist powers of the Soviet Union and China,
and entered into the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty with Japan and
subsequently, America achieved her goal. This development was also
welcomed by Japan since it satisfied the desire of Prime Minister
Yoshida who was planning to reduce military expenditure and build
Japan into a great economic power.
Will Japans Peaceful Constitution
be Changed?
19
In 1954, the HATOYAMA cabinet announced the official govern-
ment view about the Constitution: Article 9 admits that Japan has
the right of self-defense. It does not violate the Constitution to carry
out self-defense duties and for that purpose create a limited necessary
force like the Self Defense Force. Japanese people, who were afraid
that Japan would again become a military nation, have gradually
interpreted this to mean the Self-Defense Force is constitutional.
However, in 1991 when the Gulf War broke out, the Self-Defense
Force faced a turning point. After the war, the Self-Defense Force
was sent to the Persian Bay for the purpose of eliminating abandoned
underwater mines. The then Prime Minister KAIFU Toshiki stressed,
It is not the dispatch of troops which is banned by the Constitution.
In 1992, the Self-Defense Force was sent to Cambodia based on the
PKO (Peace Keeping Operation) law. This act opened the door for
the first time to permit their activities in a foreign land, since it sent
the message that, activities which are not military actions are
constitutional.
Following that, the activities of the Self Defense Force have been
expanding due to strengthening cooperation with the U.S. In 2003,
the Iraq Special Law was created and Japan sent Self Defense Forces
to Iraq. Prime Minister KOIZUMI remarked, The area of SDF
activities is a non-combat zone.
Pinning Japans defense on the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, Japan
became a major economic power and almost miraculously succeeded
to become the second largest economic force in the world. Those
favorable towards revising Article 9 claim it clearly describes that
Japan has the right to self-defense and that the Self-Defense Force is
constitutional. They also believe it allows the Self-Defense Forces to
contribute to maintaining world peace. On the other hand, those
against the revision claim that the present Japanese Constitution is
known around to the world as a peaceful constitution and is ideal for
mankind.
Japans military budget is already the second largest after
Americas in the world and some people see that it has already
exceeded the limits of self-defense. On the other hand, against the
backdrop of North Koreas recent announcement that they possess
nuclear weapons, voices to revise the Constitution to meet the U.S.-
Japan Security Treaty obligations are growing ever louder.
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