Big Changes Ahead for Japan?

[ Currently: Working ]
BBC: Japan approves constitution steps

I’ve always had mixed feelings about Japan’s Constitution. Here we have the most important document for a country, written essentially at gunpoint by the victors. Can it last? Can it be respected by the populace? Shouldn’t the Japanese people, sixty years later, write their own Constitution?

But I’ve always loved at least the ideal in Article 9, and the idea of changing it is pretty scary, especially with the hawks currently in charge. It’s also pretty scary for Japan’s neighbors, and two of them have nuclear weapons. Let’s not cause Kim Jong Il to freak out, OK?

But this is encouraging:

Quote:

Public opinion in Japan on the issue also appears to be mixed, with many in favour of some changes to the constitution while wanting the country to remain officially pacifist.

That’s pretty much how I’ve been thinking for a long time. Technically, the Self-Defense Forces are illegal, and those support missions overseas are blatantly unconstitutional. But come on, you’ve got to have some kind of military! And having one in violation of your constitution weakens respect for the constitution–it becomes something to follow only when it’s convenient. You might as well not even have one, then.

Funny thing is, you can read that quote on the Beeb, but in the local news, I haven’t seen that–only that a majority of Japanese favor changing the Constitution. The caveat about remaining essentially pacifist is left off. That the local news is pretty much reporting the Liberal Democratic Party* line is no surprise. Freedom of the press is another constitutional right, but political/corporate intimidation is even more rife here than back home.

* The old joke about the long-ruling LDP is they’re not liberal (very conservative, actually), not democratic (decisions are often by fiat from the old-boys in charge), and not really a party (just a bunch of factions).

superdave