Japan has had a pacifist constitution since the end of World War II. Authored by the United States, article 9 of the Japanese constitution prohibits the use of force to settle disputes. Now Japan’s re-elected prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who has long cherished the idea of changing article 9 for a more muscular security stance, looks as though he is going to get his wish. Overwhelmingly re-elected to another four-year term in a landslide victory, Abe is determined to move ahead.
Abe views article 9 as placing unfair constraints on Japan’s military. “Revising the constitution has always been an objective since the Liberal Democratic Party was launched,” Abe said.
Casting the change as a security and self-defense matter, Abe aims to get the necessary two-thirds supermajority of both houses of parliament. But he also must have a simple majority of votes in a public referendum for the somewhat unpopular project. “From that standpoint I will work hard to deepen people’s understanding and receive wider support from the public,” said Abe.
But Japan’s ailing economy may decrease Abe’s ability to convince the people to support a referendum. Japan’s easy money policy has made it the nation with the highest debt burden of all developed nations. Changing that will likely be painful and could easily reduce support for Abe’s unpopular policies like re-starting nuclear reactors and changing Japan’s pacifist constitution.
China has bitter memories of Japan’s past militarism and may get its hackles up. Japan’s neighbors will be “closely watching” Abe’s security policy, said China’s foreign minister Qin Gang. “We hope that Japan can really learn the lessons from history… and respect the legitimate, reasonable security concerns of countries in the region,” he said.
Ultimately, Japan wants to have its own self-defense and fighting forces to defend remote islands disputed by China and to fight alongside its allies. Japan cites recent aggressive activities by China in the East China Sea and North Korea’s increased nuclear and missile capabilities as reasons for a record increase in military spending. Abe’s 2015 budget has a record defense allocation of nearly 5 trillion yen (USD$40 billion), mainly for equipment such as aircraft, ships and surveillance equipment, as well as to relocate the U.S. base in Okinawa.
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of war.” Matthew 24:6
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