Draft revision rejects
(From The Japan Times Nov. 7 issue)

自民党憲法草案の問題点

    A constitution should make clear what ideals and goals the nation strives to achieve. The only thing clear from the draft is that Japan would create a full-fledged military force and that it would take part in "activities jointly carried out internationally to ensure peace and stability in the international community." This could lead to military operations abroad without restraint.

    The preamble of the LDP draft states in part: "Basic principles — the idea of popular sovereignty, democracy, liberalism, respect for basic human rights, pacifism and the idea of seeking international harmony — shall be inherited as inalterable values." It also says: "Sincerely wishing for international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people will cooperate with other nations to bring it about. While recognizing the existence of a variety of values in the international community, the people will make incessant efforts to eliminate oppression and the violation of human rights."

    As a mere listing of widely accepted ideas, the LDP preamble lacks a strong statement on what Japan will strive to achieve as a member of the international community. It fails to place the international position Japan should seek in historical perspective. Instead, it buries lessons from Japan's modern war and discards the pacifist principle, although it contains the phrase heiwa-shugi.

    Its weakness can be clearly seen when compared with the present Constitution's preamble, which includes the resolve that "never again shall we be visited with the horrors of war through the action of government" and the declaration that the idea of popular sovereignty is a universal idea of humankind — which is the antithesis of the Meiji Constitution's basic principle that sovereignty rests with the emperor.

    The current preamble presents the principle for Japan's behavior in the international community and the position it should seek: "We, the Japanese people, desire peace for all time and are deeply conscious of the high ideals controlling human relationships, and we have determined to preserve our security and existence, trusting in the justice and faith of the peace-loving peoples of the world. We desire to occupy an honored place in an international society, striving for the preservation of peace, and the banishment of tyranny and slavery, oppression and intolerance for all time from the earth."

    By contrast, the LDP's preamble says: "The Japanese people share a duty to support and defend the nation and society they belong to with love, a sense of responsibility and mettle." This reads like an anachronistic phrase aimed at mobilizing people.

    The LDP draft preserves the war-renouncing Section 1 of Article 9, but it deleted Section 2, which bans possession of land, sea and air forces as well as other war potential, and renounces the right of belligerency of the state. Instead, it calls for creation of a full-fledged military force for defense.

    The drafters seem to forget that Section 2 has played an important role in restraining the equipment and activities of the Self-Defense Forces, especially by banning military operations abroad, thus contributing to Japan's pacifist image in the international community. It must be noted that the SDF was created as an expedient in the context of the international situation in the 1950s. It appears questionable whether the LDP government has tried to exhaust every means conducive to the Constitution's pacifist principle in its past attempts to deal with international problems. The principle should be maintained as a universal ideal toward which the nation must strive.

    The LDP draft implicitly allows government officials to support religious activities within the bounds of social courtesy, manners and customs — an apparent move to justify official visits to religious institutions such as Yasukuni Shrine. This flies in the face of the principle of separation of religion and state.

    In lacking a mechanism to restrain military activities, the draft undermines the nation's constitutional cornerstone and completely changes the description of the nation's basic character. It would likely cause only misgivings among neighboring countries as well as among the Japanese people.

The Japan Times Weekly
Nov. 12, 2005
(C) All rights reserved

    草案は、日本が本格的軍隊を保持すること、「国際社会の平和と安全を確保するため、国際的に協調して行われる活動に参加する」ことを明示した。これは、無制限の海外派兵につながる恐れがある。

    草案の前文は「国民主権と民主主義、自由主義と基本的人権の尊重及び平和主義と国際協調主義の基本原則は、不変の価値として継承する。国民は正義と秩序を基調とする国際平和を誠実に願い、他国とともにその実現のため、協力し合う。国際社会において、価値観の多様性を認めつつ、圧政や人権侵害を根絶させるため、不断の努力を行う」と規定している。だが、日本が国際社会の一員として、また歴史的観点から達成すべき明確な目標が欠けている。

    また、現憲法の前文には、「政府の行為によつて再び戦争の惨禍が起こることのないようにすることを決意し」、主権在民を「人類普遍の原理」と宣言している箇所がある。一方、自民党草案の前文では、「日本国民は、帰属する国や社会を愛情と責任感と気概をもって自ら支え守る責務を共有する」と規定しているが、これではまるで国民動員のための時代錯誤的宣言だ。

    草案は、9条の戦争を放棄する1項を維持しながら、陸海空軍などの戦力の保持を禁じ交戦権を放棄する2項を削除し、本格的自衛軍の保持を明記している。2項は海外の軍事行動を禁ずることにより、国際社会における日本の平和主義のイメージを確立してきた。この原則は、国家の普遍的目標として存続させるべきだ。

    草案は、軍事行動を抑止する原則が欠けており、憲法の基本的性格を完全に変更するものである。近隣諸国ばかりでなく、日本国民の間にも不安を引き起こすだろう。