JAPAN AND ARTICLE 9

WHY JAPAN SHOULD AMEND ITS WAR-RENOUNCING ARTICLE 9

Craig Martin

The Japan Times , August 4, 2012

TOPEKA, Kansas — The pressure is mounting to either amend Article 9, the war-renouncing provision of Japan's Constitution, or to increasingly disregard it and so make it irrelevant. In April the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) published its proposal for amending the Constitution, and the dangers it posed for Article 9 was analyzed here on June 6 ("LDP's dangerous proposals for amending antiwar article"). But the response to such amendment proposals by the supporters of Article 9 continues to be one of complete denial — that is, a categorical argument that Article 9 should not be amended at all.

This position is misguided. There are both strategic and legal reasons why the left must develop realistic alternative amendment proposals that would preserve and strengthen the core elements of the provision, but eliminate those elements that undermine it. In a chapter in the book "A Time for Change? Japan's 'Peace' Constitution at 65," published last month by the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars (the chapter is available online: bit.ly/MWGF8T), I explain why Article 9 should be amended, and provide draft language that can serve as a basis for beginning a discussion on alternate amendment proposals.

Flat out rejection of any and all possible amendments to Article 9 is dangerous as a strategic matter. The national security environment of Japan has shifted in the last couple of decades, with the emergence of a nuclear-armed North Korea, and the growing military strength of China. In addition to these perceived threats, there is an increasing sense that Japan should be doing more to fulfill its international responsibilities. Moreover, the Japanese Self-Defense Force (SDF) has participated in non-combat roles in such conflicts as Afghanistan and Iraq with no adverse consequences.

Public opinion on Article 9 is shifting in response. The reality is that the left can no longer count on the public rejecting all amendments of Article 9, and so it must start developing reasonable alternatives to the more dangerous proposals advanced by the right. If it loses the fight and Article 9 is to be amended, and the left has no viable alternatives to the proposals of the right to offer the nation, the Japanese people will be left to vote on amendments designed to gut the provision's constraints on the use of force.

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