뉴스레터

The title is a translation of Yamamuro Shinichi's book, 《憲法9 条の思想水脈》(Asahi Shimbun Company, 2007), which won the 11th Shiba Ryotaro Award in 2008. The book proves with sufficient supporting documents that Article 9 of the Constitution was not developed overnight but formed because of peace and anti-war campaigns from different eras and countries.

The author, Yamamuro Shinichi, is a professor of the Institute for Research in Humanities at Kyoto University, and he majored in modern Japanese political history. He is an advocate of Article 9, and he finds the "thought lineage" of the Peace Constitution in Japan's philosophy of peace as well as Western intellectual traditions. It is his view that the foundation for the Peace Constitution, represented by Article 9, was already present in Japan. He says that Article 9 was not forced by the U.S. but it reflects Japanese people's ideas and values.

There are many views that highlight Japan's ownership in the post-war period. Scholars such as Amemiya Shoichi claim that the U.S.' occupation and reform policies deprived Japanese people of their opportunity to pursue reforms on their own. He says that Japan missed the chance to take ownership and achieve reforms despite the possibilities in the early 1940s. As for the Emperor System in Japan, it is his view that Japan would have abolished the system if the matter was left to Japanese people, but the U.S. maintained a symbolic Emperor System in order to take advantage of it in dealing with post-war issues.

Establishing Permanent Peace with the Peace Constitution

After its surrender to the Allied Forces in 1945, Japan announced a post-war constitution in order to prevent recurrence of miseries of war. The new constitution is also known as the Peace Constitution, and it was considered as an ideal constitution that can realize world peace. The reason it is called "Peace Constitution" comes from Paragraph 2, which solely consists of Article 9 with a title, "renunciation of war". It reads: 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. (2) 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. It not only prohibits an act of war, but also refrains from fighting back even if the country is attacked by an enemy state.

Since the enactment of the Peace Constitution, Article 9 has stirred controversy as it is interpreted in many different ways. Discussions regarding the renunciation of war and the extent of self-defense have continued, focusing on whether the establishment of Japan's Self-Defense Forces and the dispatch to other nations are in breach of the Constitution. The intentions of the Peace Constitution are explained in a book, <Story of New Constitution>, published by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) right after the announcement of the constitution in 1947. The book's Clause 6, Article 9 under the title, "renunciation of war", says the following: "With the new constitution, we decided that Japan will never engage in a war in the future. First, Japan will not maintain any war potential, including armed forces, warships, airplanes etc. Second, the use of force will be forbid as a means to settling international disputes. This means the renunciation of war in Japan." This is Japanese government's official view presented right after the enactment of the Constitution, which should be considered more trustworthy than any other interpretation by mass media or scholars. Article 9 says that Japan will neither invade other countries nor fight back, and it will never have armed forces in any form. Such interpretation is similar to that of the MEXT and other government officials who participated in the enactment of the constitution.

The provision of "renunciation of war" was not first developed in Japan. The General Treaty for the Renunciation of War was signed in 1928 by Japan and a number of other countries, and the treaty declared, "The High Contracting Parties agree that the settlement or solution of all disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them, shall never be sought except by pacific means."

The 1790 French Constitution, the 1891/1934 Brazilian Constitutions, the 1947 Italian Constitution include expressions similar to "renunciation of war". Japan's Article 9 is based on pacifism, consisting of renunciation of war, disarmament, and the right to peaceful existence. It renounces war in the stronger form than any other country's constitution. Article 9 is a declaration that Japan will not engage in a war even if an enemy state attacks the country, and it forces all countries to give up on war. It all began with a hope of achieving permanent peace if all countries have a peace constitution.

Article 9 Reveals the Thought Lineage in the East

While pursuing the thought lineage of Article 9, Yamamuro discovers that pacifism to preserve the mankind from conflicts and miseries of war has existed not only in the West but also in the East, including Japan. Japan's Peace Constitution was not something that is forced by the outside world, but it reveals the thought lineage of Japan and the East. As such, he claims that Japan should solidify Article 9 and also endeavor to spread the Peace Constitution to other countries.

Japan's imperialist aggressions led to significant damages to Asian nations, and Japan posed a great threat to world peace. As a result, Japan had to go through forced changes including the occupation and rule of the Allied Forces, but Article 9 is a valuable asset to the mankind. In this regard, we should continue to pay attention to how Japan deals with Article 9.

In the preface of the book, Yamamuro wrote about the shock he felt when people forgot the war only after a few years since the end of World War II. We learn history in order to remind us of historical events and reflect on them. Article 9 shows Japan's attempt to learn from its own mistakes during the war as well as its will to put an end to war that has been committed by the mankind for thousands of years in the past. It is a value that should not be abandoned because of right-wing extremists' lust for power or any other logic. Every August, Korea and other Asian countries call on Japan to reflect on its wrongdoings and apologize to them, and they should continue to do so and remind us of past historical events.