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1 Sayuri Umeda, Japan: Article 9 of the Constitution 1 (2006)

handle is hein.cow/jpnartc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: LAW LIBRARY OF CONGRESS JAPAN ARTICLE 9 OF THE CONSTITUTION Executive Summary Japan's post-Second World War constitution was born when Japan was occupied by Allied forces. During the first stage of the occupation, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces and legislators of the constitution thought Japan would not have a military force again. Article 9 of the Constitution renounces war and prohibits Japan from maintaining the war potential. However, as the United States changed its policy of demilitarizing Japan, the United States asked her to share the burden of maintaining the security of Japan and, for the sake of international peacekeeping, Japan gradually increased its defense capability and developed a somewhat more technical interpretation of article 9. Article 9 does not prohibit Japan from maintaining her defense capability. Article 9 had been popular in Japan for a long time; but as the Japanese started to take their security more seriously, more people have begun to accept the idea of amending article 9 of the Constitution. The ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party, will bring the Constitutional amendment proposal to the Diet within the next few years. I. Introduction The current Constitution of Japan was promulgated on November 3, 1946, and came into effect on May 3, 1947. One of the Constitution's distinctive features is its embrace of pacifism. Article 9 of the Constitution, which renounces war, is considered unique. Japan is allowed Jieitai, the Self Defense Forces (SDF): the Air SDF, the Maritime SDF, and the Ground SDF. They cannot be called land, sea and air forces (gun) because article 9 prohibits Japan from maintaining military forces. However the SDF were named, many have believed the SDF is military and the existence of the SDF is, in essence, unconstitutional.1 Of course, the government has interpreted the Constitution in a manner in which the SDF would not be unconstitutional. The government has developed a somewhat unique interpretation of article 9 and its related rules in order to legalize the existence of the SDF, and has also put limitations on the SDF in the spirit of article 9. As the government's interpretation of article 9 has developed further, many think the interpretation has begun to deviate too much from article 9's language. The government interpretation has emerged at a time that the United States has demanded more cooperation from Japan in maintaining Japan's military security. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has been the ruling party for most of the era after the Second World War, has discussed amending the Constitution, especially article 9, but resistance has been strong. It once looked impossible to amend article 9 because the majority of Japanese people would not support the amendment. However, global political and security issues impacting Japan have changed, as have the viewpoints of the Japanese people. Recently, there are realistic opportunities to amend article 9. I JAMES E. AUER, THE POSTWAR REARMAMENT OF JAPANESE MARITIME FORCES, 1945-71, 122 (1973).

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