Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is pursuing remilitarization by seeking to revise the pacifist constitution, a dangerous move which will hollow out the country's postwar commitment to peace, said a Japanese scholar.
Japan's current constitution, which took effect in 1947, contains the famous Article 9, under which the country renounces war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.
The article also stipulates that Japan will not maintain land, sea, or air forces or other war potential, and the right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized, leading the constitution to be widely known as the "pacifist constitution."
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), meanwhile, has recently made a series of moves to push for constitutional revision, which draws widespread opposition both domestically and internationally.
During an interview with China Media Group (CMG), Atsushi Koketsu, professor emeritus at Yamaguchi University, warned that although the public support will not come easily, the government is nonetheless building momentum towards constitutional revision for military purposes.
"Japan's constitution is now, in a sense, hanging by a thread. If Prime Minister Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party, now holding a majority, proposes constitutional revision, the likelihood of amendment becomes much greater. I do not think public opinion will approve it easily," he said.
"However, those who seek constitutional revision: first, they want to restore the emperor from a symbolic figure to a more substantive political role. Second, they want to transform the Self-Defense Forces into a National Defense Army, placing it under the direct control of the state rather than retaining it as the Self-Defense Forces. In other words, they want to establish it as a genuine military in the fullest sense," he added.
Koketsu noted that Japan should pursue national security not through military means, but by fostering mutual trust with neighboring countries and thereby earning the trust of the international community.
"If Japan wishes to remain a trustworthy peaceful nation, it must not continue expanding its military. Nor should it adopt policies that treat China as an enemy. Nor should it pursue nuclear weapons, allow nuclear weapons to be introduced, or export arms. That is my belief," he said.
Japan's pacifist constitution "hanging by a thread": scholar
