Craig Martin: The LDP's dangerous proposals for revising the Japanese Peace Constitution

Important article on Article 9, "LDP's dangerous proposals for amending antiwar article," by Washburn University School of Law professor Craig Martin, published at The Japan Times on June 6, 2012:

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) published its new draft constitutional amendment proposal in late April. The draft reflects a number of significant changes above and beyond those advanced in the proposal unveiled by the LDP in 2005. The proposal includes a complete overhaul of Article 9, the war-renouncing provision of Japan's so-called Peace Constitution. These changes to Article 9 are important, and on balance, dangerous...

As such, the changes would utterly undermine the normative power of the third pillar of the Japanese constitutional order — that is, the principle of pacifism and nonuse of force. For those who believe that this core principle of Japan's constitution has served it well over the last 65 years, it is important to understand the ramifications, and indeed the real intent, of the LDP's amendment proposals.