When I moved to Japan, there wasn't much online in the way of blogs or homemade websites. Sometimes I wonder how today's Internet might have changed things. Anyway, I'll try to convey here what it's like to live in Tokyo. Hopefully some useful information for visitors and newly-arrived expats, and for people thinking of moving here.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan took a step
away Tuesday from an American-drafted constitution that has long kept
its military shackled, approving a plan to allow greater use of a force
that was vanquished at the end of World War II.
In one of the
biggest changes to Japanese security policy since the war, the ruling
coalition gave approval to reinterpret the constitution on military
affairs. It now awaits endorsement — a formality — by the Cabinet of
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has made raising the country's military
profile a cornerstone of his nationalist policies.
The move will allow the military to defend other nations in what is known as "collective self-defense."
Previous governments have said that Japan's war-renouncing constitution limits the use of force to defending Japan.
Abe,
who has pushed hard for the change, cites a deteriorating security
environment, notably China's military rise and North Korea's missile and
nuclear threats.
About 2,000 opponents of the shift protested
outside Abe's office Tuesday morning. They said that any changes to the
constitution should be made through a public referendum, not simply a
cabinet decision to reinterpret it.
"For 70 years, Japan has kept its peace with its constitution,"
said 67-year-old protester Toshio Ban. "What are we to do with that
stupid man trying to trample over the precious constitution?"
Written
under U.S. direction after World War II, the 1947 constitution says the
Japanese people "forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the
nation." The clause was crafted to prevent a repeat of Japan's invasion
and brutal occupation of wide swaths of Asia.
The
ban has been relaxed over the years, starting from an introduction of a
"police" force in 1950 amid the Korean War, which became a military
dubbed the Self-Defense Force in 1954.
The
government does not intend to change the constitution, which has
remained unaltered since it came out. But Abe and subsequent governments
will now be empowered to authorize greater military engagement under a
new interpretation of the constitution.
Opponents
say the new policy could open the door for Japan's eventual
participation in joint military actions such as the war in Iraq.
Abe and other leaders of
his ruling Liberal Democratic Party say Japan will stick to its pacifist
pledge. The agreement with junior coalition partner New Komeito
includes restrictions on when Japan can exercise collective
self-defense.
The U.S., now allied with Japan, supports the move.
The change could, for example, allow Japan's navy to protect a U.S.
warship from an attack.
Takeshi
Iwaya, a lawmaker who chairs a ruling party research commission on
security, said Japan has said it won't repeat the mistakes of World War
II, but that alone is no longer enough to preserve peace.
"What we
are trying to do now is to play a more proactive role in cooperating
with regional countries in setting up a framework to protect the peace
and stability of the region," he said in an interview with The
Associated Press.
Buddhist-backed
New Komeito initially opposed the change, and Tuesday's agreement came
after weeks of negotiations between the two parties.
___
Associated Press videojournalist Koji Ueda contributed to this story.
Published time: June 30, 2014 18:43
Edited time: June 30, 2014 19:19
Thousands gathered outside the Japanese prime
minister's office to protest constitutional changes that would expand
Japan's military role and allow overseas deployment. It comes one day
after a man set himself on fire in protest against a proposed law.
Protest organizers have estimated that 10,000 people – including
students, pensioners, and women – attended the rally outside
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s office in Tokyo. However, police put
the number of participants at “several thousand.”
The demonstration comes on the eve of a cabinet meeting, where
lawmakers are expected to endorse a resolution that would expand
the use of Japan's military by reforming the constitution.
Chanting “Don’t destroy the Constitution” and “We
absolutely oppose reinterpretation of the Constitution,” as
well as “We don’t need the right to collective
self-defense,” demonstrators expressed their opposition to
what they say is a “historical turning point,” the Japan
Times reported.
Protesters are angered by the fact that Abe’s government is
making changes to the constitution – not by the democratic
process of referendum, but by changing the interpretation of it
in a Cabinet meeting.
"Protect the constitution!" the demonstators shouted,
according to AP. "Stop war. Stop Abe. Abe quit right
now!"
The change will significantly widen Japan's military options, as
it will end the ban on "collective self-defense," or aiding a
friendly country under attack.
Since the end of World War II, the Japanese constitution has
forbidden the use of military force against other nations. It may
only use its armed forces in self-defense. Japan's military has
not engaged in combat since 1945.
But the prime minister says the change is needed because of
regional tensions – particularly China's military expansion, and
missile and nuclear threats from North Korea.
The move, however, is opposed by at least half the population,
according to the latest polls.
A recent survey published on Monday by Nikkei Asia Review shows
that 50 percent of respondents oppose dropping the ban, while 34
percent support the change.
In a dramatic act of protest, a middle-aged man set himself on fire on Sunday to express his
opposition to the government’s plans to change Japan’s pacifist
constitution.
As the activist finished his speech, he doused himself in what
appeared to be gasoline and set himself ablaze in front of
hundreds of onlookers. A video showing the protest appeared on YouTube.
Abe’s cabinet could finalize a resolution as early as Tuesday, as
his ruling Liberal Democratic party [LDP] has secured the support
of its junior coalition partner, New Komeito, which has a strong
pacifist tradition and was previously against the change.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe listens to a question during the Upper House's audit committee
session at the National Diet in Tokyo on June 9, 2014 (AFP Photo/Jiji
Press)
A
Japanese man set himself on fire in central Tokyo on Sunday after giving
a speech opposing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to reform the
country's pacifist constitution, police and reports said.
The
middle-aged man doused himself in what appeared to be petrol before
setting himself alight outside the main train station in Shinjuku, one
of Tokyo's busiest shopping and entertainment districts, the
Metropolitan Police Department said.
The
man was taken to hospital with burns and his condition was not
immediately known, police added, without giving further details.
Such incidents are extremely rare in Japan.
The
Jiji Press news agency reported that the man, presumed to be in his 50s
or 60s, climbed the frame of a pedestrian bridge and spoke through a
megaphone for about an hour against Abe's drive to expand the use of
Japan's military.
Photos on Twitter showed the man dressed in a dark suit and tie. Two plastic bottles were beside him.
The
premier is pushing to reinterpret Japan's strict pacifist constitution
to allow its well-equipped armed forces to fight in defence of an ally,
something currently prohibited.
Social networks were abuzz with reports and photos about the fire which happened in front of several passers-by.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is
poised for a historic shift in its defense policy by ending a ban that
has kept the military from fighting abroad since World War Two, a major
step away from post-war pacifism and a big political victory for Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe.
The
change will significantly widen Japan's military options by ending the
ban on exercising "collective self-defense", or aiding a friendly
country under attack. It will also relax limits on activities in
U.N.-led peace-keeping operations and "grey zone" incidents short of
full-scale war, according to a draft government proposal made available
to reporters.
For now,
however, Japan is likely to remain wary of putting boots on the ground
in future multilateral operations such as the 1990-1991 Gulf War or the
2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, activities Abe himself has ruled out.
The change will likely rile an increasingly assertive China, whose ties
with Japan have chilled due to a maritime row, mutual mistrust and the
legacy of Japan's past military aggression, but will be welcomed by
Tokyo's ally Washington, which has long urged Japan to become a more
equal partner in the alliance.
Abe's cabinet is expected to adopt as early as Tuesday a resolution
revising a long-standing interpretation of the U.S.-drafted constitution
to lift the ban after his ruling party finalizes an agreement with its
junior partner.
Legal revisions to implement the change must be approved by parliament and restrictions could be imposed in the process.
"If this gets through the Japanese political system it would be the
most significant change in Japan's defense policy since the Self-Defense
Forces were established in 1954," said Alan Dupont, a professor of
international security at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
Since its defeat in 1945, Japan's military has not engaged in combat.
While successive governments have stretched the limits of the
U.S.-drafted pacifist charter not only to allow the existence of a
standing military but also to permit non-combat missions abroad, its
armed forces are still far more constrained legally than those in other
countries.
Conservatives say
the charter's war-renouncing Article 9 has excessively restricted
Japan's ability to defend itself and that a changing regional power
balance including a rising China means Japan's security policies must be
more flexible.
Abe, whose
first term as premier ended when he abruptly quit in 2007, returned in
triumph in December 2012 pledging to revive Japan's stagnant economy and
bolster its global security clout. He has pushed for the change despite
surveys showing voters are divided and wary.
"In my view, Japan is finally catching up with the global standard of
security," said former Japanese diplomat Kunihiko Miyake. "Japan can now
do as every other United Nations member under the U.N. charter."
EXISTENTIAL THREAT, CLEAR DANGER
According to the draft cabinet resolution, Japan could exercise force
to the minimum degree necessary in cases where a country with which it
has close ties is attacked and the following conditions are met: there
is a threat to the existence of the Japanese state, a clear danger
exists that the Japanese people's right to life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness could be subverted, and there is no appropriate
alternative.
Precisely how
the change might work in practice remains unclear. Junior coalition
partner New Komeito is stressing that the scope of revision is limited,
and Japanese voters are still wary of entanglements in conflicts far
from home.
"Symbolically, it
is a big step. The fundamental change to post-war Japanese security and
defense policies which basically said we would defend ourselves but not
help others by using force - philosophically this will be a fundamental
change," said Narushige Michishita, a security expert at the National
Graduate School for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo.
But he
added: "The Japanese people are not going to support a significant
military commitment of Japan to foreign contingencies and wars, quite
apart from how you could interpret the words."
Examples floated
by the government of what the change could allow Japan's military to do
range from defending a U.S. ship evacuating Japanese nationals and
aiding a U.S. ship under attack near Japan to shooting down a ballistic
missile headed for U.S. territory and taking part in international
mine-sweeping operations when a conflict has closed vital sea lanes.
WELCOME SIGN FOR SOME IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Some of the scenarios, however, have been dismissed by experts as a
public relations exercise to persuade wary voters of the need for the
change, rather than realistic possibilities.
Japan might, for
example, be too busy coping with North Korean missiles headed for its
territory to shoot down ones headed for America, some experts said.
Unforeseen contingencies, meanwhile, could also well arise.
"The idea of identifying specific cases is a red herring, because we
never really know," said Richard Samuels, director of the Center for
International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"What we need to know is whether an ally will help us."
The change will make it easier for Japan to take part in bilateral and
multilateral military exercises with countries other than the United
States, including Southeast Asian nations such as the Philippines that
have maritime disputes with China and are welcoming Japan's expanded
security role, GRIPS' Michishita said.
"It is not for joint war
fighting, but for capacity building. It would be a very difficult step
if we were to fight together," Michishita said.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino said after meeting Abe this week that Manila welcomed Japan's more assertive policy.
Critics say revising the interpretation of the constitution will gut
pacifist Article 9 and make a mockery of formal amendment procedures,
which are politically much tougher.
"Cabinets can change often.
If we change the interpretation of the constitution each time the
cabinet changes, the stability of law will be fundamentally overturned
and we will be unable to exist as a constitutional state," Seiichiro
Murakami, a ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker who is a rare,
outspoken critic of Abe, told a news conference.
Still, experts say the impact of Article 9 remains strong.
"They are still genuflecting to the constitution," said MIT's Samuels.
"I think there is a lot left of Article 9. The Japanese public has made
it clear that it is 'not so fast' in getting rid of it."
(Additional reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo, Kiyoshi Takenaka and Minami Funakoshi; Editing by Dean Yates)
Japan is up in
arms about insensitive and sexist remarks made by male members of The
Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly (the equivalent of a U.S. State Government
Assembly) toward a female representative during her presentation earlier
this week. She was speaking on issues of raising children in Japan.
Ayaka Shiomura,
a 36-year-old member of the opposition Your Party, called for the Tokyo
metropolitan government to support women who need assistance while
pregnant or raising children during a June 18 assembly session. She also
suggested that the government should help Japanese women who have
fertility issues to conceive children.
Japan is wrestling with a declining birth rate and growing elderly population. It has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world.
While
she was speaking, men in the section for the ruling Liberal Democratic
Party (LDP) began jeering at her with lines like: “Hey you, should hurry
up and get married!” and “Can’t you have babies?”
Shiomura
continued to speak even though she had to choke back tears at one
point. After the session, Minoru Morozumi, the secretary-general of Your
Party’s assembly members, lodged a protest with his LDP counterpart,
Osamu Yoshiwara.
Osamu
Yoshiwara told the press that he wasn’t in a position to confirm
whether or not it was a member of his party who yelled out the comments,
but he asked assembly members to behave in a “in a dignified manner.”
It
should be noted that this isn’t the first time the leaders of the Tokyo
Metropolitan Government have made sexist and inappropriate remarks;
it’s almost a tradition. LDP backed Shintaro Ishihara, who was governor
of Tokyo from April 1999 to October 2012, remarked circa 2001, “It’s a
waste and a crime for women who have lost their reproductive powers to
go on living.” (PDF) The current governor of Tokyo, Yoichi Masuzoe, also backed by the LDP, has said in the past such classics as “Women are not normal when they are on their period.
They are abnormal. You can’t possibly let them make critical decisions
about the country [during their periods], such as whether or not to go
to war.” He also has commented that women elected to office were “all a
bunch of old middle-aged hags.”
The
incident might have passed quietly but what began as a protest about
inappropriate behavior by Tokyo Assembly members quickly grew into a
roaring wave of resentment and anger from women all over Japan—and some
men as well.
A online petition, which calls for punishment of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly members who hurled those sexist comments,
gathered more than 32, 000 signatures throughout Japan in under 24
hours. The petition was posted on Change.org, a website which provides a
platform for citizens to gather signatures and support for popular
causes. The number of signatures is expected to exceed in 60,000 in the
next day.
The jeers were also disturbing in that they seemed to echo the sentiments of the 10 Precepts for Marriage issued
by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 1939 during the period of
military rule in Japan. The guidelines concluded with the infamous
line: For the sake of the country, give birth and grow the population.
The
petition is the fastest-growing campaign ever placed on Change.org
Japan, according to Emmy Suzuki Harris, Campaigns Director for Japan at
Change.org.
Surprisingly the creator of the petition is a man. He corresponded with The Daily Beaston conditions of anonymity. He feels that the signatures are not enough.
“We
should know why something that the citizens cannot really forgive
happened. However, to see people in other regions showing the same anger
at what happened touched and reassured me.”
“I’m
deeply angry not only as an individual, but as a male. Because pressure
and discrimination against women reflects badly on men as well.”
“These
sort of taunts fly around and there are assembly members who laugh in
an assembly where members who say ‘we’ll promote the social advancement
of women!’ or ‘we’ll work firmly toward providing child care support!’
gather,” Shun Otokita, a colleague of Shimomura’s wrote on his blog. “This is the reality of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly in the capital of our country.”
The Mainichi Shimbun reported
that Yoshiwara said that he hadn’t heard the comments and suggested,
“Perhaps each assembly faction makes sure its members don’t make rude
comments.” The Daily Beast called the LDP faction for comments on the
incident, but our reporter was disconnected twice and then told to call
the public affairs office of the General Assembly.
Shiomura wrote on Twitter
“ I was debating about pregnancy, giving birth, and infertility when
the jeering began….As a woman there were very regrettable things said.
The heartless taunts made me teary-eyed. I will take taunts about my
policies, but I don’t think these are things you should say to women who
are suffering (over child raising issues).”
Japan is very far behind the rest of the developed world in terms of gender equality.
Japan was ranked 105th last year in the 2013 Global Gender Gap Report,
which ranks women’s equality in 136 countries. Under the Shinzo Abe
(LDP) administration, Japan’s ranking in press freedom has also fallen
to new lows.
Shiomura is reportedly going to seek punishment for
the person who yelled the comments at her. Judging by the huge numbers
of people signing the petition and that her protest tweet has now been
retweeted nearly 30,000 times—-she may have a lot of support.
On
Friday, the organizers of the petition when to the assembly's council
secretariat bearing a box filled with 42,580 signatures and 6,390
comments from supporters. The group demanded that the LDP punish the
person responsible for the remarks by June 25. If this is not done, "The
Tokyo branch of the LDP would be widely recognized at home and abroad
as a group that accepts discrimination against women," wrote the
petition's organizer on the Change.org webpage.
Prime
Minister Abe, the most powerful person in the LDP, who has made anemic
but sincere proclamations to promote gender equality may find himself in
a position where he has to support an opposition party member and slap
down his own rank and file.
Japan's 'Patriotic Wives': praise for Abe, censure for China, South Korea
By By Linda Sieg
14 hours ago
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (C) is led by a Shinto priest as he visits Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo …
By Linda Sieg
TOKYO (Reuters) - One by one, women take the
microphone near a crowded crossing in a popular Tokyo shopping district
on a hot and humid weekday, denouncing Japan's pacifist constitution,
blasting China's "recklessness" and mocking the South Korean flag.
"The Japanese constitution that cannot protect our children's future is
more dangerous than nuclear power," said a banner held by members of
self-styled patriotic women's group Hanadokei, which sponsored the
event.
Angered by demands from China and South Korea that Japan
apologize again for wartime misdeeds and mistrustful of mainstream media
and politicians, ultra-conservative Japanese housewives, mums and
working women are speaking out.
One of the few leaders to win
their praise is Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Conversations with members of
Hanadokei and another group, Soyokaze, offer a window into the mindset
of ultra-conservatives who back Abe's push to revise Japan's post-war
constitution and recast the country's past with a less apologetic tone.
"In the past, Japanese people stayed silent no matter what," Machiko
Fuji, Hanadokei's deputy head, told Reuters as she and her colleagues
later grabbed lunch.
"But after others kept telling us over and over that we are wrong ... we have passed the limit of our endurance."
Like U.S. Tea Party activists, the women use the Internet to share information, link up with followers and proselytize.
While their numbers are small, their views - which echo those of larger
male-dominated nationalist groups - could at the margins affect
policies from diplomacy to immigration, although Abe faces pressure to
appeal to a broader base.
"They are still small groups, but their
impact might be bigger than their size because they seem to resonate
with average Japanese feelings to an extent," said Mari Miura, a
political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo.
While
Abe wins kudos, the women are disappointed at what they see as his
bowing to diplomatic pressure on some issues. And they are less pleased
with his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
"Even inside the
LDP there are people who want to denigrate Japan and are acting on
behalf of the interests of China and South Korea," said Hanadokei leader
Makiko Oka. "I support Abe, but I can't really support the LDP."
"COMFORT WOMEN" CAMPAIGN
Hanadokei, which literally means "Flower Clock", and Soyokaze, or
"Gentle Breeze", trace their origins to the advent of the centrist
Democratic Party of Japan government that ousted the dominant
conservative LDP in 2009.
Many members were galvanized by fears
the DPJ would give foreign residents the right to vote and legislate the
rights of spouses to keep separate family names after marriage, both
anathema to ultra-conservatives. Soyokaze, with some 500 members
nationwide, was founded in 2009 and Hanadokei, which boasts about 840
members including 300 men, sprang up in the following year.
Soyokaze's members tend to be older than those of Hanadokei, many of
whom are in their 30s. Both groups include housewives and working women.
High on their agenda is a campaign to revoke a 1993 apology by
then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono acknowledging the involvement of
authorities in coercing women, many Korean, to work in military
brothels before and during World War Two.
"Did Japan's wartime
heroes make Korean women sex slaves? This is a huge lie," a Soyokaze
member said through a microphone one Sunday near Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine
for war dead, as members urged passersby to sign a petition to revoke
the apology.
South Korea and China say Japan has not sufficiently
atoned for the suffering of the "comfort women", as they are
euphemistically known in Japan.
Many Japanese conservatives say
there is no proof of direct government involvement in coercing the women
- a stance adopted under Abe's first 2006-2007 administration - and
that other countries also exploited women in wartime.
Persistent
criticism of Japan by China and South Korea has angered the
ultra-conservative women, as well as irritated more moderate Japanese.
"Why should Japan keep being singled out?" Soyokaze member Harue Sato
asked Reuters in an interview.
Abe has questioned the Kono
Statement in the past and in what many saw as a nod to his conservative
base, the government is reviewing it. But mindful of potential
diplomatic fallout, Abe has said he would not revise it. Anger at
Seoul's demands spilled over into demonstrations last year in a Tokyo
district home to many Korean restaurants and shops, in which some
protesters called Koreans "cockroaches" and shouted "kill Koreans".
Several members of the women's groups said they took part.
SILENT MAJORITY
Central to the tenets of the nationalist women's groups is a belief
that mainstream Japanese media are biased toward the left and report
lies and distortions - the reverse of liberal criticism that media are
too eager to toe the government line.
"I realized that
pro-Japanese media were very few," said one 54-year-old Hanadokei
member. "It's the same in politics. There are lots of pro-China
politicians and lots of pro-America politicians, but very few pro-Japan
politicians."
Like many other right-wing groups, the women's
organizations want Abe to regularly visit Yasukuni Shrine, seen by
critics as a symbol of past militarism because Japanese leaders
convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal are honored there along
with war dead.
Abe paid his respects at the shrine last
December, sparking criticism from China and South Korea, where memories
of Japan's occupation and colonization persist, and an expression of
"disappointment" from Washington.
He has declined to say if he will go again.
While Abe doesn't get a perfect score from the nationalist women, his
return to power 18 months ago has given them hope that their views are
shared by a silent majority.
"They are a minority but since Abe
took office, they are supported by an atmosphere that makes them feel
they are the majority," said Minori Kitahara, a feminist author who has
written a book about the groups called "Patriotic Wives". (Editing by Dean Yates)
By MARI YAMAGUCHI
"For 70 years, Japan has kept its peace with its constitution,"
said 67-year-old protester Toshio Ban. "What are we to do with that
stupid man trying to trample over the precious constitution?"
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe listens to a question during the Upper House's audit committee
session at the National Diet in Tokyo on June 9, 2014 (AFP Photo/Jiji
Press)
