4th May
Golden Week, and while yesterday was Constitution Day, and today Green Day (no jokes, please), tomorrow will be Children’s Day, with lots of things for kids to do, events, and a plethora of Koi nobori. The latter involves a pole, with attached lines, and on the lines are streamers or wind socks decorated as colourful Koi, or carp, swimming upstream, as a symbol of the strength of youth. These range from a wee pole on an apartment veranda, to a massive array, 20 meters high and 50 meters across over a farmer's field to show off to his neighbours that he has a fine and strong son or two (even if he sits all day looking at his phone and has no interest in digging daikon in the future). This was originally boys day, and 3rd March girls day (celebrated with dolls), but since only the boys day was a national holiday it was revised, possibly in light of having celebrated the Constitution a couple of days before, which contains Article 14. This is not often remembered, although it should be, but Article Nine overshadows them all, with its rather noble statement that Japan shall forever forego the right of belligerence, that is the nation agreed to give up the legal right to fight wars. If only a few more would do likewise. But Article 14 is also interesting: “All of the people are equal under the law and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin. Peers and peerage shall not be recognized. No privilege shall accompany any award of honor, decoration or any distinction, nor shall any such award be valid beyond the lifetime of the individual who now holds or hereafter may receive it.” http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/constitution_and_government_of_japan/constitution_e.html
The lack of discrimination is a nice one, coming as it does at a time when students are looking for jobs rather than actually studying, which is the main pre-occupation in the final year of university life. Hence Japanese students take four years to graduate compared to three in England without learning or achieving any more. Companies clearly state how many people shall be hired each year, in each company section (sales, admin etc.), and often with 10:1 gender ratios clearly stated.
Anyone familiar with the details of Article Nine will know that the spirit of the constitution is of more importance than the letter, as although, “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”, is a spirit most can respect, what comes next is a bit, well, troublesome. “In order 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.” The last bit is fine. No-one really wants to invade China (although, Ishihara...hmmm) or join the US in its next foreign adventure. But the “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained” bit has one or two slightly unnerving consequences. The first is that the position of the JSDF, the de facto military of Japan with (possibly) the fourth or fifth largest defence budget in the world, is rather...fuzzy? At least, that has been the case since 1954, when they were founded in their present form, although naval forces continued after 1945 for minesweeping and some transport and ordnance disposal duties, and were the core that was built up and served under US command in Korea, providing the main minesweeping force for the Inchon landings, which were also made possible by the use of Japanese-manned landing ships. MS14, a Japanese minesweeper, was sunk off North Korea in late 1950, and one sailor killed, and the entire Japanese force was ordered to set sail before the Japanese government, under PM Yoshida, had given its approval, which it rapidly did, nor was any comment sought upon Japanese armed forces being deployed to a war zone, the minesweepers having light machine guns fitted. The constitution came into force in 1947, and was drafted by US officials, and only slightly revised by Japanese politicians and officials, although the Japanese version is the only one with force in law, despite the original having been in English. In the Japanese version ‘forces’ is more specifically translated as ‘gun’, or military, thus providing the official explanation that the JSDF, Japan Self-Defense Forces, are not a military. They have no military law or courts, and personnel are designated as ‘special civil servants’. But these special civil servants have more tanks than the British or French armies, more naval ships than either European country’s navy, and a large and advanced air force.
Each year rallies are held to defend or revise the constitution, and the main bones of contention revolve around Article Nine. Less attention is paid to the legal problem, however, than to the details of each sentence. This is odd, as by most interpretations outside of Japanese government circles the JSDF is an unconstitutional force, even when those people recognising such a position and status look favourably upon the Forces, and wish to see them improved and their status made more tenable. Those demanding the defence of Article Nine fall into two camps: the minority camp (maybe 10% of popular opinion at the most) demands the JSDF be disbanded, while the majority camp (usually considered to be 50-60% of opinion) seek that the JSDF is maintained at roughly present levels, but that its military power is not further enhanced, that its duties are not greatly enlarged, and that the government respect the spirit of Article Nine by respecting peace and rejecting war even while it is in breach of the letter of the basic law. The other minority camps consist of those who wish to erase the ‘foreign’ constitution and either return to the Meiji Constitution (all gowns, frocks, Barons and Dukes, and respect for a God-Emperor), or construct a new, native constitution, or those who see themselves as the ‘middle way’ (but are usually rejected as right-wingers by the constitution defenders) who want to keep the 1947 document, but revise it to suit present realities and challenges. The constitution is the longest standing unrevised national constitution still in force.
Each group has made its case over the last couple of days, and with little effect other than to convince each group that was already convinced of the justness of its cause. The question remains though, of what value has a document that is not being observed to the letter of its provisions? It obviously retains value, for most Japanese wish to retain it in either original or only slightly modified form, and yet most Japanese also wish to retain the JSDF in its present form (or close to it), and hence the legal and moral contradiction. If the constitution were changed to reflect present realities, China, Korea, and others would be alarmed, as would many Japanese, so that the move to reinforce legal strength would result in a weakening of the document’s moral strength.
It seems likely that revision will occur at some point, but being Japan it is likely to come about after some crisis has overcome the inertia derived from such rigidly entrenched opinions resisting change. This resistance is not only from a liberal public, but is also strong within most political parties and many other institutions, as some see the value of being able to portray the nation as a ‘peace country’ in contrast to many others that go unnamed. This has been seen in Japanese NGO and companies being seen as neutral or friendly in lands where the US and its rather more belligerent allies are viewed as unwelcome aliens, such as Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and Khmer Rouge and later pro-Vietnam controlled Cambodia. It seems that Japan wishes to be a liberal, global mercantile power, while also having allusions to great power status, in (unequal) alliance with the greatest power of all. The inequality is due to the provisions of the alliance requiring the US to come to the aid of Japan in case of attack, while Japan is under no such obligation. However, while this is often seen as a sign of the US being used by allies, or carrying an unfair burden for ‘the west’, it is also an alliance that provides advantages and benefits for the US, which others have derided as equating to Japan having the status of a vassal state. Perhaps such extreme views are a sign that the alliance is ‘about right’, or maybe all wrong, but as with the status of the JSDF few Japanese wish to alter things, particularly after the tremendous help after 3:11, and, it must be noted, with Obama as President. This blog has no US, or other, political affiliation, but the simple truth is that most Japanese were alarmed by and derisive of George W Bush, and Obama has been praised for his calm statesmanship, his intelligence, and his moral and social standards. For once, most Japanese wish the US president could be one of their leaders. It seems unlikely that Mitt Romney would cast the same spell.
And on the subject of the US alliance, the US side has confirmed Japan’s order for F-35 fighters for the ASDF. Not in service, not in production, and running late with technical hitches, life isn’t easy for Lockheed Martin right now. The ASDF wanted four aircraft by 2016 at the latest, but this has now slipped to 2017 at the earliest, with full production now planned to start in 2019. Japan has budgeted approximately $10 billion for 42 aircraft, leading to a unit cost of approximately $240 million, which they hope will include all training, spares and support. However, life might not be that easy. You can order a new BMW but everything, from rubber mats to air-con is an optional extra, and it seems the F-35 will be similar. The Japanese have said that if costs escalate they will simply buy less planes, but that might become untenable if costs escalate dramatically, and in-service dates slip. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120504x2.html They have even threatened to cancel, but that seems, politically, unlikely, although it could be a boost to attempts to cut costs. However, on this issue, as on many others, the Japanese carp may be swimming in a river too wide and a current too strong to make any headway.
By the way. There will be a complete eclipse, complete with darkened skies and portents of doom, early on the morning of 21st May, across a band of Japan, from Kagoshima and Osaka, through to Tokyo and southern Tohoku, and already we are being warned not to look at the sun without proper protection. Yet again, the Darwin effect. Let us hope the strongest koi can swim on, eyesight unimpaired. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120504f2.html
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