By Jade Akhras
On the 18th of December 2018, Shinzo Abe’s cabinet approved plans to significantly increase Japan’s defense spending. According to these new spending guidelines, Japan will acquire its first aircraft carrier as well as long range cruise missiles, giving it offensive capabilities for the first time since the end of the Second World War. [1] Japan will also acquire, over the next decade, 147 US-made F-35 stealth fighters in addition to two units of the American ground-to-air defense system Aegis Ashore. This new spending amounts to a record five-year budget of 27 trillion yen (240bn USD) beginning in 2019. [2] The new five-year defense plan is seen as a shift away from Japan’s constitutionally-enshrined principles of pacifism.
Japan’s current constitution was written in 1947 under the auspices of Allied forces led by the United States. [3] It is widely known as the “pacifist constitution” due to Article 9 and its vow to “renounce war as the sovereign right of the nation.” [4] The article’s full text read as follows:
Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.
While Article 9 forbade Japan from using force internationally or maintaining a military for any reason, it did permit for a narrow self-defense operation, which was founded in 1954 as the Self Defense Force (SDF) to protect the Japanese mainland. [5] Even with these limitations, the SDF has still performed a paramilitary role, supporting US troops based in Japan in exchange for protection. Furthermore, in late 2001, the Japanese navy sank a North Korean spy ship fleeing for Chinese waters, and since the 9/11 Attacks, Japanese SDF forces have been deployed overseas, in Afghanistan and Iraq, for the first time. [6] These events have been seen as symbolic for a change in attitude towards militarization as well as a challenge to the constitution.
Japan’s relationship to pacifism has changed based on global and regional events. Now, due to the rise of perceived threats in East Asia, from North Korea’s nuclear arsenal to China’s increasingly brazen maneuvers in the South China Sea, the Japanese government has decided to take one more step away from pacifism by approving a massive military upgrade, one that has caused a sharp public opinion divide. [7] In a survey conducted in April of last year, 49% of respondents believe Article 9 must be changed while 47% say it shouldn’t be touched; however, 51% are against constitutional amendments under Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. [8] The reasons behind this ambivalence range from pacifism in reaction to Japan’s pre-1945 militaristic past to fear of entrapment in a US-initiated war far away from Japan. [9]
Despite these concerns, Japan is still gradually moving away from its pacifistic postwar position and strengthening its forces in order to adjust to the changing geopolitical landscape. However, Shinzo Abe — a main advocator for amending the constitution and rebuilding Japan’s military — still has work to do to garner enough support to formally codify the changes to Japan’s security laws through a constitutional change, said Jim Schoff of the Carnegie Endowment. [10] That requires figuring out just what a revised Article 9 would say, and how unencumbered Japan’s armed forces would be. That is “the next big step in the staircase.” [11]
Jade Akhras is a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is intending to major in International Relations and Biology.
Works Cited:
[1] Withnall, Adam. "Japan Approves Major Defence Spending In ‘Move Away From Image Of Pacifism’." The Independent. N.p., 2018. Web. 1 Apr. 2019.
[2] Steger, Isabella. "This “Pacifist” Nation Is Now The Biggest Foreign Buyer Of American F-35 Fighter Jets." Quartz. N.p., 2018. Web. 2 Apr. 2019.
[3] Teslik, Lee. "Japan And Its Military." Council on Foreign Relations. N.p., 2006. Web. 1 Apr. 2019.
[4] "Amending Japan’S Pacifist Constitution - Article 9 And Prime Minister Abe." Institute for Security and Development Policy. N.p., 2018. Web. 3 Apr. 2019.
[5] Teslik, Lee. "Japan And Its Military." Council on Foreign Relations. N.p., 2006. Web. 1 Apr. 2019.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Liff, Adam, and Ko Maeda. "Why Shinzo Abe Faces An Uphill Battle To Revise Japan's Constitution." The Washington Post. N.p., 2018. Web. 1 Apr. 2019.
[8] Tamkin, Emily. "Is Japan Moving To Revise Its Pacifist Constitution?." Foreign Policy. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2019.
[9] Liff, Adam, and Ko Maeda. "Why Shinzo Abe Faces An Uphill Battle To Revise Japan's Constitution." The Washington Post. N.p., 2018. Web. 1 Apr. 2019.
[10] Tamkin, Emily. "Is Japan Moving To Revise Its Pacifist Constitution?." Foreign Policy. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2019.
[11] Ibid.
Image Source: Sailors lower the Japanese naval ensign at a flag lowering ceremony on the deck of Japanese helicopter carrier Kaga anchored near Jakarta Port ahead of its departure for naval drills in the Indian Ocean, Indonesia September 21, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
