Satoko Norimatsu: "We Need to Eliminate War in Our Own Minds"

Via a Kyoto Journal online interview, "We Need to Eliminate War in Our Own Minds," with Satoko Norimatsu of Peace Philosophy Centre and Vancouver Save Article 9:

Article 9 represents to me the souls of 20 million people killed in Japan's wars in the Asia-Pacific. More broadly, Article 9 represents to me the more than 90 million people that state violence killed in the 20th century –– the bloodiest century in human history. And, of course, the millions of survivors of the wars who are still suffering.

Those who say we should change it simply because of the current geopolitical situation are so narrow-sighted. Shuichi Kato (Article 9 Association co-founder) said we learn history so that we can detect signs in the current society that could lead us to repeat our past mistakes. We learn about the Nanjing Massacre and check whether in our present society the kind of racism that fueled those crimes still remains in our mind. Article 9 is the hard––the hardest lesson –– learnt from Japan’s history. We should never detach the Article 9 debate from its historical context.

When we think about Article 9 with its wartime historical perspective, I can't believe anybody would want to change it.