Poll on Constitutional Reform

Recently the (probably biased) NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute published the results of a poll taken across Japan to gauge public support for constitutional reform. The results were not very encouraging. While 41% said reform or amendment was necessary, compared to only 24% who said it was not, however, when it came to Article 9, the statistics were almost exactly reversed. Of those questioned, 41% said that amending Article 9 was not necessary compared to only 24% who think it is. Most still cling to the ideal of a pacifist constitution and worry that foreign intervention could get out of hand. This shows a lack of self-esteem on the part of many people and a lack of trust between the civilian and Self-Defense spheres of the country. Some amendment of Article 9 is not only necessary but is becoming increasingly urgent.

The biggest problem is not that Japan is disallowed from participating in international military operations (although these would help the JSDF to gain valuable experience) but is rather the was in which Japan is legally obliged to allow an enemy to strike the first blow before defensive counter-measures can be taken. Under the current laws, Japan can only act in self-defense if an enemy directly attacks Japan. As all students of kendo know, allowing your enemy the freedom to make the first strike, knowing that you can do nothing to stop them until the blade falls, is a terrible mistake. If the first strike is powerful enough, it may be impossible to recover from. Given the strength and hostility of Communist China, this is a risk that Japan cannot afford to take. Hopefully, as according to past agreements, the United States would rush to assist Japan in such a crisis, but that should not be taken for granted. Serious consideration must also be given to the fact that the isolationist position is growing quite strong in the United States lately.

The uncomfortable fact is that Japan has an old and shrinking population but remains quite advanced and prosperous. Communist China, on the other hand, has a huge population but one that is terribly imbalanced. They also have a rapidly growing economy but also one that is highly volatile and subject to manipulation. In other words, China is very big, very dangerous and in both economic and demographic terms (because of the female to male imbalance) is approaching a crisis. When that happens, the small, aging but prosperous State of Japan would be an inviting target. This is something that must be given serious consideration and for a country which has the largest army and air force in the world, a rapidly expanding navy and a nuclear arsenal, it is extremely dangerous to allow them to be able to freely strike the first blow against Japan before any action could be taken. There are many constitutional changes that are needed but amending Article 9 should be considered of paramount importance and the public must be educated as to why this is so.