Will Japan's Peaceful Constitution be Changed?

May 3rd is Japan's Constitution Day and a national holiday. Article 9 of Japan's 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 constitutional or not.

To begin with, Japan's 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.

In 1954, the HATOYAMA cabinet announced the official government 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 Japan's 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.

Japan's military budget is already the second largest after America's 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 Korea's 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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