March 30, 2014
Akahata Sunday edition
Objecting to Japan’s exercise of the right to collective self-defense, two former ministers are among the 57.7% respondents to a Kyodo News opinion poll expressing “opposition” to Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s attempt to change constitutional interpretation in order to legalize Japan’s use of military forces abroad, with 33.9% expressing “support”.
Takemura Masayoshi
Takemura served as Chief Cabinet Secretary and Finance Minister under the Hosokawa and Murayama Cabinets, respectively, between August 1993 and January 1996.
Takemura said he thinks that Prime Minister Abe is seeking to finalize discussions on the issue of the right to collective self-defense in a meeting of the Cabinet which was composed of Abe-appointed ministers along the lines of the policy submitted by a private security panel consisting of only Abe’s like-minded fellows. “I cannot tolerate the very principles of the Constitution being changed so easily,” said the former minister.
He said he considers the Japanese Constitution as a binding power keeping in check abuses by state authorities, and that because of this pacifist Constitution, Japan’s Self-Defense Forces were not allowed to use force in Samawah during the Iraq War.
Takemura voiced deep concern that Prime Minister Abe is going ahead with the implementation of the state secrecy law and the lifting of Japan’s embargo on arms exports in compete disregard of public opinion.
Abe’s visit to the war-glamorizing shrine of Yasukuni late last year provoked a backlash not only from China and Korea but also from the United States and Europe.
As for this event, citing the Nuremberg Trials over Nazi Germany and the Tokyo War Crime Tribunal over Imperial Japan as the start of the postwar world order, the 80-year-old former politician stated that it is a matter of course for the international community to view Abe Shinzo’s official visit to the shrine honoring Class-A war criminals as an affront to the postwar world order.
Fujii Hirohisa
Fujii was a member of the Cabinet between August 1993 and January 2010 under the Hosokawa, Hata, and Hatoyama governments, holding posts as Finance Minister and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary.
Like Takemura, Fujii also stated that constitutionalism is the idea of biding the state authorities to the Constitution, and added, “That cannot be allowed for someone in power to change the interpretation of the Constitution without heeding the opinions of the general public.”
He remonstrated with young politicians who have no memory of war by stating that it is always ordinary people who will be victimized in any war, irrespective of winning or losing, and that this is why Japan should never repeat the same mistakes associated with militarization.
In early 1945, young Fujii was living in a suburb of Tokyo due to the government program to evacuate schoolchildren from big cities. One day, he saw a Japanese fighter deliberately crash into a U.S. B-29 bomber to bring it down. Rushed to the crash site, he witnessed firsthand the pilots’ arms and legs scattered in pieces there. The scene is still burned into his brain, he said.
The elderly fiscal expert pointed out that pacifism, popular sovereignty, and respect to fundamental human rights are the three principles considered common sense in democracies. He refuted the argument that the Constitution was U.S.-imposed by stating that the present Constitution contains “considerable degree of truths that the world has reached”.
He said that the road Japan had pursued in the past turned out to be wrong. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Abe insists that future historians will judge if it was right or wrong. His interpretation of history will isolate Japan from the rest of the world, the aging ex-lawmaker warned.
Objecting to Japan’s exercise of the right to collective self-defense, two former ministers are among the 57.7% respondents to a Kyodo News opinion poll expressing “opposition” to Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s attempt to change constitutional interpretation in order to legalize Japan’s use of military forces abroad, with 33.9% expressing “support”.
Takemura Masayoshi
Takemura served as Chief Cabinet Secretary and Finance Minister under the Hosokawa and Murayama Cabinets, respectively, between August 1993 and January 1996.
Takemura said he thinks that Prime Minister Abe is seeking to finalize discussions on the issue of the right to collective self-defense in a meeting of the Cabinet which was composed of Abe-appointed ministers along the lines of the policy submitted by a private security panel consisting of only Abe’s like-minded fellows. “I cannot tolerate the very principles of the Constitution being changed so easily,” said the former minister.
He said he considers the Japanese Constitution as a binding power keeping in check abuses by state authorities, and that because of this pacifist Constitution, Japan’s Self-Defense Forces were not allowed to use force in Samawah during the Iraq War.
Takemura voiced deep concern that Prime Minister Abe is going ahead with the implementation of the state secrecy law and the lifting of Japan’s embargo on arms exports in compete disregard of public opinion.
Abe’s visit to the war-glamorizing shrine of Yasukuni late last year provoked a backlash not only from China and Korea but also from the United States and Europe.
As for this event, citing the Nuremberg Trials over Nazi Germany and the Tokyo War Crime Tribunal over Imperial Japan as the start of the postwar world order, the 80-year-old former politician stated that it is a matter of course for the international community to view Abe Shinzo’s official visit to the shrine honoring Class-A war criminals as an affront to the postwar world order.
Fujii Hirohisa
Fujii was a member of the Cabinet between August 1993 and January 2010 under the Hosokawa, Hata, and Hatoyama governments, holding posts as Finance Minister and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary.
Like Takemura, Fujii also stated that constitutionalism is the idea of biding the state authorities to the Constitution, and added, “That cannot be allowed for someone in power to change the interpretation of the Constitution without heeding the opinions of the general public.”
He remonstrated with young politicians who have no memory of war by stating that it is always ordinary people who will be victimized in any war, irrespective of winning or losing, and that this is why Japan should never repeat the same mistakes associated with militarization.
In early 1945, young Fujii was living in a suburb of Tokyo due to the government program to evacuate schoolchildren from big cities. One day, he saw a Japanese fighter deliberately crash into a U.S. B-29 bomber to bring it down. Rushed to the crash site, he witnessed firsthand the pilots’ arms and legs scattered in pieces there. The scene is still burned into his brain, he said.
The elderly fiscal expert pointed out that pacifism, popular sovereignty, and respect to fundamental human rights are the three principles considered common sense in democracies. He refuted the argument that the Constitution was U.S.-imposed by stating that the present Constitution contains “considerable degree of truths that the world has reached”.
He said that the road Japan had pursued in the past turned out to be wrong. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Abe insists that future historians will judge if it was right or wrong. His interpretation of history will isolate Japan from the rest of the world, the aging ex-lawmaker warned.
