Military emergency? Is Japan changing its mind about war?
Cassidy, John
John Cassidy MILITARY EMERGENCY? Japan rethinks its constitution Just before midnight on July 25, a major earthquake rocked northern Japan. Hours later the Japanese legislature sent Shockwaves of...
...If Article 9 is the thumb in the dike that has kept the SDF from venturing outside Japan, then the Iraq SDF Dispatch Law constitutes a serious leak...
...But the horror of war runs deep in the modern Japanese character...
...I am full of ambivalence...In my opinion, it is how we are now that determines whether there is redemption...
...Yuji makes it possible for Japan to unleash its military power if the nation's security is at risk...
...Meanwhile, North Korea's aggressive flourishes-especially the February 24 firing of two North Korean missiles into the Sea of Japan-have dramatically changed the political dynamic...
...this goes for both Japanese and Americans...
...In his book Yuji Hosei wa Kowai (The Perils of the Yuji Law), he writes, "during times of war people will not be protected...
...John Cassidy lives and works in Yokohama, Japan...
...It's hard to say...
...strike on Iraq...
...The Japanese media widely displayed images of Koizumi riding shotgun in Bush's pickup...
...Essentially drafted by Americans after Japan's defeat in World War II, the Japanese Constitution is "one of the few if any alien documents that have ever been as thoroughly internalized and vigorously defended," writes historian John Dower...
...At first glance, the law doesn't seem very earthshattering.After all, any country should have the right to defend itself, and much of the Yuji Law deals with SDF's deployment only when the nation faces invasion...
...Yuji" literally means "emergency," and does not necessarily conjure the notion of waging war, which may explain the relative lack of dissent over this profound change in Japanese law...
...Although the Iraq SDF Dispatch Law prohibits SDF forces from using weapons in Iraq, opponents fear it could weaken the foundation of Japan's unique war-renouncing constitution...
...Others think the real tragedy would be if Japan's war-renouncing constitution were laid to rest, another casualty of the U.S...
...Nor is this concern anything new...
...Why was the decision to allow Japanese soldiers to be deployed overseas such a big deal...
...the only thing that matters is winning...
...Soon, Japanese soldiers may be standing side by side with American soldiers in the Middle East and possibly elsewhere...
...At a joint press conference, Bush jumped the gun by announcing that Japan would "provide logistics support for humanitarian and reconstruction activities" in Iraq...
...Diet Member Masahide Ota's World War II experience deeply informs his opinion on the matter...
...Because Japan's constitution specifically forbids the use of military power abroad...
...war in Iraq...
...They are a force to be reckoned with...
...The law, they argue, doesn't clearly define what constitutes a threat, and could allow the prime minister alone to deploy the SDF if he concludes the nation is in imminent danger...
...Signs of seepage first appeared on June 6, when the Japanese legislative body, the Diet, approved the Yuji Law...
...One of its most cherished components is Article 9, which states that the Japanese people forever renounce war as well as the right to maintain an army, navy, or air force (as a domestic security force, the SDF skirts this proviso...
...He feels that today's lawmakers are too young to remember the horror of the war and the military government that brought it about...
...Perhaps...
...Some in Tokyo think that it is time for Japan to shoulder more of the responsibility for maintaining both its own security and that of the international system...
...A future administration, acting without the consent of the Diet, could thus use the law to justify an unprovoked attack on another country, such as North Korea...
...In a letter to the Japan Times, one reader reflected on his childhood experiences during the firebombing of Tokyo: "Were the mass civilian killings in Tokyo, Kobe, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki justified...
...Hyperbole...
...interests...
...efforts in reconstructing Iraq...
...Opponents of the Yuji Law say it violates Article 9 and is meant to serve U.S...
...As stated by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Japan, with its $46.7-billion military budget, ranked second to the United States in military expenditures for 2002...
...Historically, though, Article 9 has powerfully limited discussion of the subject, preventing such a proposal from becoming law...
...So, it seems, has the prime minister...
...Politicians have been trotting out variations of the bill since the 1970s...
...After the Yuji Law passed, a "stunned" Ota told the Japan Times, "The way the government is fanning public opinion and the way the media reported [the deliberations] looks very similar to how this nation was plunged into [the last] war...
...In a gesture of gratitude, President George W. Bush invited Koizumi to spend a night at his Texas ranch...
...With the Yuji Law, the shackles on Japan's "defense" forces have been loosened...
...Still, there is some dissent...
...Recently, however, in light of the renewed North Korean threat and the post-September 11 security climate, many Japanese lawmakers have been asking if their constitution adequately protects Japan's citizens...
...Hours later the Japanese legislature sent Shockwaves of its own through this nation of 125 million when it passed a bill that will allow up to ten thousand troops from Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF)-what Japan calls its military- to assist U.S...
...Playing the sidekick is a position the United States would like to see Japan take more permanently, bolstering its U.S.-friendly foreign policy with military support, if necessary...
...At the time, Japanese lawmakers were still debating whether sending the SDF to Iraq would violate the constitution, and despite the law's passage, that dispute continues...
...Despite overwhelming public opposition, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi supported the U.S...
Vol. 130 • September 2003 • No. 15
