Abe says it is his duty to revise constitution

Shinzo Abe and the Liberal Democratic Party gain a majority of seats in the recent upper house elections giving them, when including New Komeito and smaller nationalist parties a 2/3 majority. Abe's first turn as Prime Minister ended when he was forced to resign over his insistence of revising Japan's constitution to the detriment of other pressing issues facing the country.  Shinzo Abe and his allies think in the long term and now they may have achieved their long sought after goal. Restoring Japan to its pre World War II status as a major economic and military power.

Shinzo Abe is a member of a prominent Japanese political family his grandfather Nobusuke Kishi served as minister of munitions during World War II was arrested and briefly imprisoned, released and went on to become Prime Minister.  His views on the Second World War come through his grandfather a man he greatly admired.  Like many of his fellow travelers he believes history has distorted Japan's imperialist history starting with the occupation and annexation of Korea, the invasion of Manchuria and the rape of Nanjing to Japan's role in the war.  Never mind that many in his party and cabinet believe the rape of Nanjing never took place or that the imperial army never committed war crimes.  In 1974 a group of politicians and like minded supporters formed a group whose goal is to restore the dignity of  emperor and Japan following the humiliation of its defeat in World War II and the imposition of its pacifist constitution by the United States.  That group with  30,000 members is now called Nippon Kaigi.

      

Less than two days after winning that election Shinzo Abe has declared that the most import issue facing Japan isn't its declining birth rate, aging population or a struggling economy. No, the most important issue is the revision of the constitution. Thus restoring Japan's supposed loss of dignity and allow Japanese military forces to once again in engage in military adventurism.

An emboldened Shinzo Abe called Monday for debate on Japan’s pacifist constitution, which he said it was his “duty” to revise after scoring a strong win in weekend elections.

Voters backed the hawkish prime minister, despite a lacklustre economic performance, handing his Liberal Democratic Party and its allies control of more than half of the upper house of parliament.

Analysts say with the support of small nationalist parties, Abe may now have the numbers to push through a change to the constitutional bar on Japanese troops waging war.

“We have always set a goal of revising the constitution…that is my duty as president,” Abe said.

“But the party does not have more than two-thirds of seats in both chambers by itself, so I don’t expect the draft would pass as is,” he said, referring to the parliament’s lower house as well, and suggesting compromise was needed. “So I hope debate will steadily deepen.”

Donald Trump Thinks He'll Tell Japan What To Do Because He's Donald Trump

Donald Trump the Republican nominee for President has shown, one that he doesn't know anything foreign policy and two he knows less than nothing about Japan and its constitution which constrains its military.   For Donald Trump's information Japan does pay for the U.S. to station its military personnel in the country.    Of course there's the Tokyo treaty which sets out the terms for the U.S. Japan defense treaty.

Japan earmarked 189.9 billion yen ($1.7 billion) to host U.S. military bases in Japan in fiscal 2015 through March 31 as part of the costs necessary to station nearly 50,000 U.S. personnel.

“A lot of people like to say, oh, Trump wants Japan to arm. I don’t want them to arm. I want them to reimburse us for at least the cost,” said Trump, a 69-year-old billionaire.

Trump became the sole candidate in the nomination race after Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the last contender, said Wednesday he has suspended his campaign.

“I have great relationships with Japan,” Trump said.

Just so the know nothing Trump can understand I'll make it simple:  America wrote Japan's postwar constitution which limited its military to a self defense force and includes article 9 which prohibits Japan from engaging in military adventurism.  

Japanese soldiers could fight abroad again after security bill passed

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has finally achieved one of his political goals.  The restoration  of Japan's dignaty after having America under the ageis of General Douglas MacArthur, as he saw it force upon the Japanese people its pacifist constitution.   Article 9 of the constitution prevents Japan from sending its military forces outside the counrty to fight in foreign wars. Since the 1990's Abe's Liberal Democratic Party has sought a means by which the constitutuion could be amended.  Abe's first turn as Prime Minister ended when, during his one year in office his sole focus was the removal of article 9. He failed and was forced to resign.  

He staged a poitical comeback in 2012 becoming the first person to serve twice as Prime Minister.  That first year he consentratred on fixing Japan's moribound economy.  Abe still dreamt of allowing Japan to send its military overseas to fight in foreign wars.  In December 2014 he disolved parliament   and a snap election was held.  With the opposition parties still in disarray after their defeat in 2012 the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner New Komeito won a super majority eboldening Abe and his desire to return Japan to its "glory" days.  Thus, the introduction of the security laws.  One little problem Abe never counted on: The people of Japan being overwhelminly against the legislation.  

Japan has passed controversial security bills that will allow the country’s troops to fight overseas for the first time since the second world war, despite widespread voter opposition and mass protests in central Tokyo.

MPs in the upper house of parliament passed the legislation in the early hours of Saturday morning Japanese time, following days of high political drama marked by scuffles, delaying tactics and fierce exchanges on the floor of the chamber.

The new laws effectively ease constitutional restraints on the country’s forces to allow them to exercise collective self-defence, or coming to the aid of an ally, even if Japan is not directly threatened.

The move, the biggest shift in the country’s defence posture since its wartime defeat in August 1945, prompted mass demonstrations and frantic attempts by the opposition MPs to delay the bills’ passage.

Editorial: We strongly oppose passage of government-backed security bills

September 16, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)

#StandWithAhmed

Does Prime Minister Shinzo Abe think he's a prophet? "The public's understanding and support toward the security bills will undoubtedly spread after the bills are enacted and time passes," he told the House of Councillors special committee on special legislation on Sept. 14.

Saying that "people will understand in time" while having provided no convincing counterarguments to the many objections that have been voiced against the bills demonstrates the great extent to which Abe, full of conceit, belittles the public.

The objections toward the bills are not temporary, nor are they purely emotional. They are based on the real fear of the possibility that common sense will be distorted and Japan's accomplishments over the years as a peaceful nation will be sabotaged.

Japan's national security policy is the result of a delicate balancing act between war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution and the Japan-U.S. security treaty. It has comprised the solid backbone of post-World War II Japan, born from a coexistence of deep remorse for a reckless war and the realistic need to protect the country.

Why Asia is still fighting over World War II

In 2008 when Shinzo Abe was first elected Prime Minister he let it be known that Japan's dignity would finally be  restored  after years of humiliation following its defeat in World War II.  Mr. Abe bristled at the constitution imposed upon Japan by the Americans, which in conservative political circles caused pain and resentment.  As it removed Japan from "Great Nation" status and reduced it to being a vassal of American political and military dominance. 

Abe completely misread the public's sentiment for his brand of conservatism and historical view. Then like today he wanted to eliminate the constraints placed upon Japan's military by Article 9 of the post war constitution.  Japanese voters then as they are today are unwilling to play along with Abe's distorted view of Japan's place in the world community.  The difference between know and then?  In 2008 he showed his cards to soon and was forced to resign just one into his premiership.  In his go around as Prime Minister he held his cards to close to the vest for more than a year before reviling, once again that he and the Liberal Democrats would once again seek to change the status of Japan's military allowing them to participate in overseas conflicts which American forces were engaged.  Even with the public firmly against these revisions the ruling coalition passed the security   bills through the lower house of parliament on a party line vote using its overwhelming majority to do so.    


Abe and the Liberal Democratic Party aren't just focused on the constitutional revisions they also seek to revise Japan's history in the time between the the two world wars and Japan's actions during the second.   Most of Japan's current political elite have family ties which go back to that era either through political connections or business associations.  Given the worlds negative view of Japan's actions during that time these people are simply trying to rewrite history and are succeeding as they have control over the what students are taught through a vetting process for the publication of text books by the Ministry of Education which has final say on which books will be published. Because of this process they have left the Japanese public willfully ignorant of Japan's actions prior to and during the Second World War.

At the forefront of those demanding that Japan do more to atone for its wartime legacy are China and South Korea. 

The Chinese still bristle at the Japanese occupation of their country’s eastern reaches. They are especially bitter over the “Rape of Nanking” in 1937-38, when Japanese troops captured the city now known as Nanjing, which was then the Chinese capital. Some 200,000 people were killed and tens of thousands of women raped by marauding soldiers, according to the judgment of an international war crimes court.

South Koreans still harbor painful memories from 35 years of Japanese colonial occupation. They have focused their resentment on the fate of “comfort women,” Korean women and girls forced to work as prostitutes in Japan’s wartime military brothels.

Past Japanese leaders have apologized dozens of times for their country’s behavior in terms varying from remorse and regret to sorrow and repentance. The clearest statement came 20 years ago, in 1995, when then-Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama acknowledged Tokyo’s history of “colonial rule and aggression” and offered his “heartfelt apology” for “these irrefutable facts of history.”

Just to make sure the world understood where Abe stood on these issues he decided  that poking Asian countries in the eye with a metaphorical sharp stick was best.

 Most provocatively, in December 2013, Mr. Abe marked the first anniversary of his election by visiting the Yasukuni shrine, where Japan’s war dead – including more than 1,000 convicted war criminals – are commemorated. He had earlier infuriated the Chinese government by arguing in a parliamentary debate that “the definition of aggression has yet to be established in academia or in the international community,” suggesting that Japan had not really invaded China.

  

Shinzo Abe Get's His Sercurity Blanket: Japanes Public Totally Against It

Shinzo Abe's dream has come true.  At least as his delusional self see's it when the Lower House of the Japanese Parliament passed  legislation giving the government the right to send Japanese military forces into armed conflict in support of the United States.  This despite the Japanese public's opposition, constitutional scholars stating that the legislation as passed is in contravention of the Constitution's Article  9  which clearly states that Japanese military forces are prohibited from involvement in armed conflict outside of Japanese territory and that any revisions to the constitution requires a referendum to be voted on by those eligible.      None of which has taken place: Shinzo Abe and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party took these actions unilaterally.  

Abe's grandfather Prime Minister Kishi was forced to resign when he forced through similar legislation in 1960 which constitutes the current Japan-U.S. Security Treaty.  

China has warned Japan against “crippling regional peace and security” after the lower house of parliament in Tokyo passed bills to allow Japanese troops to fight abroad for the first time since the second world war.
The two bills were passed despite widespread popular opposition and questions over their constitutionality. Opposition parties staged a walkout in protest before the vote, while tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated outside parliament. But, with the governing Liberal Democratic party (LDP) controlling two-thirds of the seats, the outcome was never in doubt.
The legislation, part of a long-running bid by the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, to reinterpret Japan’s US-authored pacifist postwar constitution, now has to go before the upper house, where the LDP and its allies are also in the majority. It will have 60 days to vote but if the upper house rejects the bills, it can be overridden by the lower house. Opposition parties, deeply attached to the doctrine of collective self-defence, are planning legal challenges.

Abe heckled at ceremony in Okinawa on 70th anniversary of battle

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was given an unwelcome greeting by the people of Okinawa at a ceremony commemorating the battle for the island which cost 10's of thousands of lives.   Protesters greeted Abe over his insistence that U.S. Marine Corp Futenma air station be moved not off of the island but to rural Henoko.   The Japanese government treats the people of Okinawa like shit.  Insisting that the island host the majority of U.S. forces stationed in Japan in one of the countries smallest prefectures. 

Abe and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party have this unrealized dream ( more like a fool's earned.) that Japan must be stored to the stature it held prior to World War II.  They truly believe that Japan was and continues to be humiliated by the Constitution imposed by the U.S. following Japan's surrender at the end of the war.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was heckled Tuesday at a ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa, the bloodiest episode in the Pacific War, as anger flared over the U.S. military’s continuing presence.
In a highly-charged ceremony on Okinawa also attended by U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, Abe was openly heckled by locals angry at the size of the United States’ presence on the subtropical islands.
Shouts of “Go home!” could be heard as the prime minister took the podium. It is relatively unusual for a Japanese prime minister to be jeered by the public.
Abe, who appeared rattled, told the audience Japan had for decades enjoyed the dividend of peace after the horrors of World War II.
  

“People in Okinawa have long been asked to carry a big burden for our security,” he said. “We will continue to do our best to reduce it.”
Okinawan Gov Takeshi Onaga was warmly applauded by the 5,000-strong crowd after using his speech to denounce “the heavy burden” of American bases in Okinawa, host to more than half of the 47,000 US service personnel in Japan.
“Some 73.8% of U.S. military facilities in Japan are still concentrated in our prefecture, which makes up only 0.6% of the country’s land area,” he said.

  

Pro Article 9 Demonstration In Japan: Sunday May 31

In Desperation The LDP Publishes A Manga In Support Of Changing The Constitution

Shinzo Abe and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party are so desperate to change Japan's pacifist constitution that late last month published a manga aimed at younger voters giving them a simplistic reasons why the constitution should be amended allowing its armed forces to once again be deployed outside the country.   The constitution written by American's following Japan's defeat in World War intentionally included Article 9 which clearly prohibits the Japanese Self Defense Forces from operating outside of country.   

Many within the ruling party believe that Japan was humiliated and forced to become a second rate world power all thanks to "foreigners."  Meaning those afwal American's.   

 The comic book, released late last month and entitled “Honobono Ikka no Kenpo Kaisei tte Nani” (“The Honobono (Warm) Family Asks: What are Constitutional Revisions?”), calls into question the usefulness of a Constitution written by Americans whose main purpose, it says, was to “make Japan powerless” 70 years ago.
At one point in the story, the characters, initially unaware of the charter’s origin, hear the story of its creation and lament Japan continuing as a “defeated nation.”

A defeated nation? That's correct given that Japan's military rules decided to conquer Asia and attack America all in the hope the Americans would see Japan's military adventurism as a fait accompli.

They are startled to learn that while their Constitution has not been amended once in its 70-year existence, Germany has revised its basic law 60 times, France has changed its Constitution 27 times, South Korea’s has seen nine changes and the U.S. has revised its Constitution six times over the same period.
In making the comparisons, the comic contends that Japan faces the world’s most onerous process in changing its charter.
To amend the Constitution, a proposed change must first be approved by a supermajority of two-thirds in both chambers of the Diet. It must then be put to a public referendum subject to a simple majority of votes cast.
But in comparing the processes of some other nations, the manga falters, as at least two countries — Spain and South Korea — employ similar rules for revising their documents. Others — including the U.S. — have stringent rules when it comes to constitutional reform.

Using America as an example:  Constitutional Amendments are proposed all the time in the House of Representatives and Senate.  To get a single amendment passed 2/3 of the members from both chambers must vote yes. Then the proposed amendment is sent to the states where 38 of them must approve it in their state legislatures.  Because there is no time limit imposed on when the amendment must be adopted it can take years before an amendment is added to the U.S. Constitution.  That's why there have only be 17 added since the approval  of the original Bill of Rights.

Republican Senator John McCain Of Arizona Loves War: Has High Hopes Of Japan Joining In

Republican U.S. Senator John McCain loves war,  like someone might love gourmet food or a particular brand of designer clothing.  He loves war.

When Russia invaded Georgia he wanted to send weapons, the same for conflicts in, Syria, Iraq and the Ukraine it matter whose hands these weapons ended up in just as long as they helped to perpetuate armed conflict.   Now the mighty Senator of War wants Japan to join in his madness and commit troops to various conflicts.  Such as the Middle East and the South China sea.  Yet, this god of war seems to have forgotten a simple fact, Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution which specifically prevents this type of military adventurism and for good reason: World War II.

Sen. John McCain, chairman of the U.S. Armed Services Committee, expressed hope that the SDF will be operating in the Middle East and the South China Sea under Japan’s new security policy.

The senior politician, who has a heavy influence on defense and foreign policy, also said in an interview that the Self-Defense Forces might take part in combat in the event of a contingency on the Korean Peninsula.

McCain made the comments Tuesday as Japan seeks to revise the bilateral defense cooperation guidelines in a way that allows the SDF to expand its overseas activities with the U.S. military. This revision reflects Japan’s controversial security shift under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to allow the use of collective self-defense, or coming to the aid of an ally under armed attack even when Japan itself is not under direct attack. Until last year, collective defense was considered banned under the war-renouncing Constitution.

Shinzo Abe And The LDP Are Hoping That Japanese Soldiers Will Soon Be Able To Die In Pointles Wars

Shinzo Abe and his chicken hawk compatriots in the LDP are scurrying around like squirrels searching for food in their  efforts to change  Japan's pacifistic Constitution so that it  can be manned up.    You know, so that members of the Japanese Self Defense Forces can die for Americas hegemonic foreign policy initiatives.  All done at the behest of America's major corporations.  

Japan’s conservative ruling party is gearing up for a new push to achieve its long-sought goal of revising the country’s U.S.-drafted post-World War II constitution. Its first challenge: winning over a divided public.

Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers and other supporters rallied Friday ahead of Sunday’s Constitution Day holiday, when Japan’s democratic and war-renouncing charter took effect 68 years ago.

The party, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has resumed meetings of its constitution revision panel after a 2-year recess, and this week started distributing a cartoon pamphlet to raise public awareness and drum up support.

Backers of a revision denounce the 1947 constitution as one imposed by the United States, which occupied Japan from the end of World War II until 1952. They say it’s outdated and inadequate for today’s society.

Why Does Shinzo Abe Want Japan Involved In War's?

Following World War II with the American's help a new constitution was written which included Article 9 which prohibits Japan's Self Defense Force from engaging in any armed conflict, even UN Peace Keeping operations.  Their involvment is restricted to humanitarin reflief.  

Shinzo Abe and a large faction of his governing Liberal Democratic Party wants to amend the constitution which would remove article 9 and allow Japanese armed forces to participate in armed conflict which a large majority oppesses.  Prime Minister Abe believes that it will restore Japan's dignity following its defeat in World War II.

After being unable to save two hostages held by Middle Eastern extremists, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said constitutional change will be needed to protect the lives and assets of Japanese citizens.

Abe has said at times that with the current interpretation of Article 9, which forbids both the use of force to settle international disputes and the maintenance of regular armed forces, it is difficult to protect Japanese citizens in a changing security environment.

“The Liberal Democratic Party has already presented a draft amendment to Article 9, and amending it is to carry out our duty of protecting the lives and assets of Japanese citizens,” Abe told the Upper House Budget Committee on Tuesday.

Yet, Japan doesn't have the military wherewithal to carryout any military operation which could lead to, if any Japanese hostages.

What Happens If Shinzo Abe Gets His WIsh?

Shinzo Abe's lives in world of make believe at least one might describe it that way.  Japan's Prime Minister and his Liberal Democratic Party have this dream of "restoring" Japan.  For them that means the power that was Japan from the turn of the 19th century till the end of World War II a legitimate player in world politics and military power.   It means denying the war crimes committed by the Japanese Imperial army: The Rape of Nanjing, Comfort Women, chemical experiments on civilians and the execution of POW's.  Denial includes revising this history through text books used in Japanese junior and senior high schools.

Upon his return to the Prime Ministers office in December of 2012 he set about making changes not only in policy but in the constitution, specifically article 9 which prohibits the deployment of Japanese soldiers as armed combatants in conflict zones.   Have those ambitions comeback to haunt him with the killing of 2 Japanese hostages by ISIL?

If Mr. Abe would just extricate himself from his delusional   dream world and face the reality of our times perhaps there won't be anymore hostages taken.     

Sunday's announcement of the killing of Kenji Goto, the second of two Japanese hostages captured by Islamic State (IS) militants, represents a major political challenge for the Japanese administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. 

It also raises important questions about the future security of Japanese citizens at home and abroad, the degree of Japanese public support for the country's increasingly proactive foreign policy, and the prospects in 2015 for government legislation to allow Japan's Self-Defence Forces (SDF) to play a more active overseas role.

While there was widespread shock at the two deaths, Japanese public reaction to the hostage crisis in general has been mixed.

Many Japanese responded to the humanitarian dimension of the crisis, using social media to express their solidarity with the victims and their families.

  Given the nature of Japanese politics the probability is high he'll get his wish as public sentiment concerning these changes in policy and the constitution will be ignored. 



 

This Is What Happens When You're a Unilateral Ass

When Shinzo Abe was first elected Prime Minister in 2006 his myopic policy focus was on changing article 9 of the Japanese constitution. You know, the part about peace and Japan won't engage in foreign wars.  As with any singular uncompromising stance Shinzo was soon out of a job.

Six years later he made a triumphant return to the Premiership with policies focusing on economic recovery. Keeping his ultra nationalistic bs in the background.  But like a moth drawn to the flame Shinzo just couldn't help himself and the old let's burn the constitution down crap once again came to the fore.  And just like before there seems to be a problem with his all you need is more army policy.

When is cabinet approved the shift towards self defense they consulted on one, Not the other political parties and certainly not the voting public.

   Japanese PM’s approval ratings drop following Abenomics finance strategy and reinterpretation of pacifist defence policy

Abe has rapidly become one of the best-travelled prime ministers in Japanese history. He told reporters at a news conference last month that he has been “working up a sweat” as he travels around the globe, in search of allies to help counter a rising China and energy deals to help power the Japanese economy.
But there might be another reason Abe likes to be overseas: the reception he gets abroad is increasingly warmer than that at home.
As Abe zipped around Latin America, the news website Japan Today asked its readers whether Abe’s average of two trips abroad each month this year is too many. One respondent said, “In fact, it might not be a bad thing if Abe stayed out of Japan completely.”

The Japanese people don't share Shinzo's vision of the world one in which Japan is now sending its armed forces into conflict overseas.  For some really odd reason they like peace. Imagine that.

Shinzo Abe Gets His Weapons On

Fulfilling one of the Liberal Democratic Parties wet dreams the Japanese government has approved a transfer of arms.   These deludid assholes believe that in resurrecting the past (Imperial Japan) the country will get its mojo back.  Placing aside for a moment that Japan was an imperial power beginning in 1904 with the defeat of the Russians at Port Arthur why  would the Japanese government want to travel down this road of destruction again?  Because these fools believe the peace imposed upon Japan by America was a complete humiliation of a centuries old nation and culture.  

  The Abe Cabinet on July 17 gave the green light for sales of missile parts to the United States, the first approval since the government eased Japan’s long-standing ban on weapons exports in April.Cabinet ministers at a National Security Council meeting approved the export of a sensor part for use in surface-to-air Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) missiles.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., which has a contract with PAC-2 missile producer Raytheon Co., is manufacturing the sensor part.
According to Defense Ministry officials, the United States no longer uses the PAC-2 missile, and Raytheon had stopped production of the sensor part.
However, the United States plans to export the PAC-2 missile to Qatar in the Middle East and asked Japan to export the sensor part.

 Given that the US plans to export this technology to a country with a human rights record that borders apartheid South Africa why should anyone be concerned?