„Hören Sie auf, sich Amerika anzubiedern“: Japans Jugend erhebt sich, um die pazifistische Verfassung zu schützen

They’re right

Bless the youth. Peace not war.

There was a protest in Okayama yesterday calling for Takaichi to resign. I wonder if the more left leaning people in the country will start to vote and become more politically observant. Or if this is just a flash in the pan and things will maintain the current course of vibes based far right politics

Delusional morons. Who do you think authored the constitution in the first place?

They should rise up to tear the accursed document down, kick out the USA, and restore Japanese sovereignty.

Wait didn’t they all vote for Takaichi?

My 2c as someone who has studied Japanese disarmament and rearmament and also the post-war Constitutional process.

I think that broadly, the Japanese Constitution is actually very good, and its idealism is best embodied by Article 9’s lofty ambition to eradicate war; I think that is something that we all ought to admire. On the other hand, I do think that the present strategic environment that Japan exists in does actually give rise to a valid premise towards formal revision. Now, I think that concerns as to whether Takaichi’s government and the LDP will change it in a way that respects that original idealism is also entirely valid. The LDP’s prior attempts to revise the constitution, for example, did away with a lot of the liberal semantics of the Constitution in favor of a more Japan-centric nationalist wording that I think that Japanese people ought to be wary of.

Nonetheless, Japan’s strategic environment is challenging and evolving. On one hand, the US is retreating from its role as an ideologically liberal hegemon, leaving an ideological power vacuum in East Asia and Japan must rise to the occasion to be the liberal power of East Asia in its stead. Japan has traditionally pursued a complementary and diplomatic foreign policy in Asia, seeking to frame itself as a stable, liberal, peaceful, and reliable partner for developing nations in Asia. Now it is the *only* large liberal democratic power left in Asia and needs to take on certain responsibilities the US traditionally carried. Of course there is something to be said about South Korea, but that is another lengthy and complex conversation. One of the biggest ones is on Taiwanese independence; Takaichi certainly made a stir when she invoked collective security over Taiwan, but in view of the ongoing competition with China, it was an important move to make to defend democracy in Asia at a time where US commitment is unreliable. Additionally, in terms of Japan’s own security, North Korea’s nuclear threat is probably the most imminent; the fundamental issue is how to defend oneself against a nuclear strike. Generally, you defend yourself from a nuclear strike by pre-emptive attack on the nuclear launchers, and under current (I could be wrong here, it has been a bit of time) interpretation of Article 9 by the CLB (Cabinet Legislation Bureau, which controls legal interpretation of A9) pre-emptive defense is forbidden. Japan is only authorized to use military force in defense once a military attack has a.) already occurred or b.) currently underway. Though, that this hasn’t stopped the JSDF from acquiring missile technology that is capable of striking North Korean launch sites. This is my brief summary of what I view to be the valid basis upon which A9 should be changed.

Now I am not the most familiar with Takaichi herself, but I do think that scrutiny on her government’s desire to change A9 is warranted. Certainly, we don’t want to grant wide-ranging war powers unnecessarily, but A9 does currently prevent Japan from responding to a critical nuclear threat. It might also be that we might want Japan to be more active in protecting and promoting liberal democracy in Asia in times where democracy seems to be in retreat. The issue is whether the LDP’s revision will not be an adjustment that adapts A9 to modern security concerns and still preserves the pacifist character and commitment to peace, but one that radically changes the character of the Constitution in favor of a Japan-centric nationalist worldview. As a last bit though, I do think that the criticism that usually comes from China or Korea that Japan will fall into the same imperialist trappings of its past if it does change the Constitution is overblown; I can’t imagine any sort of general mobilization being possible in Japan absent the direst of circumstances and I don’t think the Japanese populace will normatively tolerate that sort of thing.

There’s really not much reason to protest, Japan’s no idiot. It has no capacity for conquest or even a long-term defensive war.

It’s simply responding to the increasing activities of China and Russia in disputed territories.

**Take the Philippines as a good fucking example, as a Filipino, I am telling you now to move before it’s too late. **

So good job to Takaichi, while I don’t like the increasing ~~isolationist~~ nationalistic policies, they absolutely did right in enforcing their position.

But the constitution was written by Americans…