daigo.org

There are lots of discussion now wheather Japanese pacifist constitution be changed. bbc had an article (Which also explained the reason for Princess Masako’s depression… but that is a different blog entry all together), Asahi.com: The drive to revise the Constitution is losing momentum, Japan trying to beef up global military reputation, Article 9: The Road to Peace? (This one doesn’t have published date, but it is a pretty good historical view…) and a bit old but still informative: Diplomats’ deaths shock pacifist Japan (Dec. 2003)

第二章 戰爭の放棄 (第九條)

1. 日本國民は、正義と秩序を基調とする國際平和を誠實に希求し、國權の發動たる戰爭と、武力による威嚇又は武力の行使は、國際紛爭を解決する手段としては、永久にこれを放棄する。
2. 前項の目的を達するため、陸海空軍その他の戰力は、これを保持しない。國の交戰權

From 日本國憲法

CHAPTER II. RENUNCIATION OF WAR (AKA Article 9)

1. 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.
2. 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.

From The Constitution of Japan 1946

Found interesting sites while looking into this stuff: ZNet’s Japan Focus, Japan Observer’s Japan Watch, japanFocus.org and TruthOut

Added: Japan defence debate stirs concern

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 18th, 2004 at 11/18/2004 @ 1:27 pm and is filed under Culture, News and Politics, Asian Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.