Japan Press Weekly

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2014 April 16 - 22 [POLITICS]

Scholars stand up against PM Abe’s move to turn Japan into war-fighting nation

A group of Japanese scholars on April 18 inaugurated an association to protect constitutional democracy in a bid to block the Abe government’s move to change the conventional interpretation of the war-renouncing Constitution to authorize the state to exercise the right to collective self-defense.

The association’s prospectus states, “If the government is allowed to do whatever it likes, the Constitution will no longer serve its vital function to restrict state power.” Referring to the growing civil movements for a departure from nuclear power generation and against the State Secrecy Law, it declares, “We take every possible action in order to encourage the civic movements and to restore constitutional government.”

At the press conference, Tokyo University Professor Emeritus Okudaira Yasuhiro, one of the 49 initiators, mentioned that the administration forcibly established the Japanese-style National Security Council and the secrecy act last year. He noted that these moves are causing uneasiness to not only Japanese people but also the whole world.

Hosei University Professor Yamaguchi Jiro said, “The notion that ‘you can do anything once you win an election’ will undermine democracy.”

Sophia University Professor Nakano Koichi pointed to the fact that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party scored a “sweeping victory” in the 2012 general election, but the absolute proportion of votes the party received was only 16%. “It’s completely ridiculous that with such narrow support they claim they represent the people’s will,” he stressed.

Past related article:
> Public opposition mounting against Japan’s use of collective self-defense [April 8, 2014]