Japan should remember Constitution articles amid triple disaster
(From The Japan Times May 4 issue)

夏の電力不足に備えよ

Japan on May 3 marked the 64th anniversary of the enforcement of the postwar Constitution just as the entire nation, including its people, private enterprises, and the central and local governments, is struggling to overcome the consequences of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan.

The anniversary also came at a time when the lives of the people in Fukushima Prefecture are being severely disrupted by the radioactive materials released from Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which developed a major nuclear crisis when its power sources to cool the reactors were damaged by the tsunami.

According to the National Police Agency, more than 25,000 people died or went missing in the March 11 disasters. Many people also lost their property and their jobs. More than 126,000 evacuees are still housed in temporary shelters — more than 50 days since the catastrophe struck.

Article 27 of the Constitution says that "All people shall have the right and the obligation to work," and Article 29 says that "The right to own or to hold property is inviolable." Those people's suffering was caused not by human or government actions but by the terrible power of nature. But the victims are without the basic rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Along with the no-war principle, the Constitution, promulgated Nov. 3, 1946, and put into force May 3, 1947, contains an important principle of the right to the minimum standards of living. Article 25 says, "All people shall have the right to maintain the minimum standards of wholesome and cultured living. In all spheres of life, the State shall use its endeavors for the promotion and extension of social welfare and security, and of public health."

The first sentence of this article was not in the draft Constitution prepared by the headquarters of the Occupation forces. Japanese lawmakers inserted this sentence through their Diet deliberations — an important testimony that undermines an idea propagated by some that the Japanese just passively accepted as their new Constitution what the Occupation forces headquarters had written and imposed on them.

Despite the lawmakers' determination to improve the lives of people by including the right to the minimum standards of wholesome and cultured life in the Constitution, it is clear that the conditions of people in temporary shelters are far from what the article envisages. Even if they relocate to temporary housing, one cannot say that they will come to enjoy the living conditions as stated in Article 25. They will be forced to live under harsh conditions for many years to come.

Attention should also be paid to the situation of people in Fukushima Prefecture who were forced to evacuate their homes because of the establishment of the non-entry zone around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station. The evacuation is causing many of them to lose their means of making a living. These people were not responsible for the crisis at Fukushima No. 1, but they have been forced to suffer the consequences of the nuclear calamity. Many children in the prefecture are being deprived of their right to a normal education without fear of threats to their health.

In August 1945, the atomic bombings turned the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki into victims of nuclear fission. Today, nuclear power generation has made the people of Fukushima the latest victims of nuclear fission. It will be a sad chapter in Japanese history if Fukushima is remembered alongside Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a place associated with a nuclear tragedy.

It is clear that the government must quickly take well thought out measures to help and improve the lives of the victims of the triple disaster of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.

Apart from the triple disaster, Japan has been facing various social problems, including the so-called working poor, an increase in the number of temporary workers, the deterioration of medical and social welfare services, and the weakening of the social fabric because of economic and technological changes.

It is time for the government, the private sector and citizens to seriously consider ways to realize the ideal expressed by Article 25 of the Constitution.

日本国憲法が施行されて64年目を迎えた日本は、企業、政府、自治体をあげて東日本大震災の被害を乗り越えようとしている。一方、福島第一原発の放射能漏れの影響で、福島県民の生活は深刻な状況にある。

憲法第27条は「すべて国民は、勤労の権利を有し、義務を負う」とし、第29条は「財産権は、これを侵してはならない」としている。被災者は天災により苦難を強いられており、憲法が保障する権利が確保されていない。

第25条は「すべての国民は、健康で文化的な最低限度の生活を営む権利を有する。国は、すべての生活部面について、社会福祉、社会保障及び公衆衛生の向上及び増進に努めなければならない」と定めている。前半の条文は、制定時に国会での審議の中で日本人の発議によって加えられたもので、日本国憲法は占領軍によって作られた押しつけだという考え方に反する重要な証拠だ。

しかし避難所生活の現状は、条文が描いたものとは程遠い。仮設住宅に入居しても、25条にあるような生活を楽しむことができるようになるとは限らない。

福島県の第一原発付近に設定された避難区域の住民は職をなくし、子供たちの多くは健康被害を心配せずに普通の学校教育を受けることができていない。

地震、津波、原発事故と3重の打撃に見舞われた被災者の生活向上に向けて、政府は綿密な対策を立て、実施せねばならない。今回の被害以外にも、日本ではさまざまな社会問題が山積している。ワーキング･プアや非正規労働者の増加、医療や社会福祉サービスの低下、経済･技術の変化による社会構造の脆弱化などだ。

政府と企業、国民は憲法第25条に込められた理念を実現させる方法を真剣に検討すべきだ。