Article 18 of Japan's Constitution states, "No person shall be held in bondage of any kind. Involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime, is prohibited."

And Article 97 declares, "The fundamental human rights by this Constitution guaranteed to the people of Japan are fruits of the age-old struggle of man to be free; they have survived the many exacting tests for durability and are conferred upon this and future generations in trust, to be held for all time inviolate."

Nothing controversial here, merely language and sentiments characteristic of a free society. Why, wonders Shukan Post magazine, would these two articles be missing from the preliminary draft of a revised Constitution issued by the Liberal Democratic Party last April? Would a new Constitution make Japan less free?