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Japan Times
JAPAN / 70 YEARS OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY
Jan 2, 2015

As Abe pulls to the right, few go with him

How far has Japan shifted to the right? Is it trying to shed its legacy of postwar pacifism? Experts give their opinions on the LDP's latest moves as the new year opens.
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 5, 2014

Shinjuku self-immolation act protests Abe's democracy hijack

Last week a man set himself on fire next to Shinjuku Station to reportedly protest Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bid to lift constitutional constraints on Japan's military forces. It was a gruesome spectacle captured on numerous smartphone videos and disseminated on social media. Good thing because the...
EDITORIALS
Jun 23, 2014

Chance for court to right a wrong

Surviving defendants convicted of trespassing on a U.S. air base in western Tokyo 57 years ago seek a retrial of their case because of their fear that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is using language in the original judgment to support his attempt to have the Constitution reinterpreted in a way enabling Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defense.
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 21, 2014

Abe hijacks democracy, undermines Constitution

By short-circuiting the democratic process, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is abusing the trust put in him by the people. His initiative to reinterpret Article 9 of the Constitution to lift constraints on the Japanese military and permit collective self-defense is the most recent example of how Abe is trampling...
Reader Mail
Sep 6, 2009

Hatoyama's article recommended

Regarding the Sept. 2 article " 'Distorted' in translation?": I have just finished reading Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Hatoyama's entire article ("A New Path for Japan," published on The New York Times Web site Aug. 27) and see nothing in it that is "anti-American."
Reader Mail
Dec 14, 2008

Soka Gakkai's position on article

Unfortunately, there were a number of errors in the Dec. 2 FYI article "Soka Gakkai keeps religious, political machine humming." As I was interviewed for this article on Nov. 21, I would like to make several points in response.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 4, 2008

Article 9 hailed on Constitution's birthday

Marking the 61st anniversary of the enforcement of the postwar Constitution, hundreds of people gathered Saturday in Tokyo's Hibiya Park to call for keeping Article 9, which renounces war.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2006

Lawyers to hold concert, sing praises of Article 9

A group of some 30 lawyers will fight to preserve Article 9 of the Constitution by giving a choral performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, which is dedicated to world peace and happiness. The concert is an effort to draw attention to political moves to revise the article, which renounces war.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2005

LDP revises Article 9 in draft Constitution

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Friday endorsed a new draft Constitution featuring a rewritten version of war-renouncing Article 9 that would officially allow the nation to possess a military for self-defense.
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2005

Thousands gather in support of retaining pacifist Article 9

Thousands of people attended a rally Saturday in Tokyo to protest against changing the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2005

Upper panel can't agree on need for new Article 9

A House of Councilors panel on the Constitution endorsed a final report Wednesday that cites the need to revise the supreme law to ensure new human rights concepts and agrees a female should be allowed to ascend the Imperial throne, but fails to declare a consensus on amending the war-renouncing Article...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 14, 2020

The coronavirus and Japan’s Constitution

Article 41 provides the government with sufficient power to take aggressive action against the COVID-19 outbreak.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 23, 2020

Komeito, the 20-year-old security watchdog

Komeito wields influence in major security policy decisions, especially the one that has most Japan-watchers intrigued: constitutional amendment.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 28, 2019

Tetsu Nakamura's death in Afghanistan exposes a gap of perception in Japan

Following the assassination of Dr. Tetsu Nakamura in Afghanistan earlier this month, the government of Afghanistan held a memorial ceremony for him as his body was delivered to the airplane that would take it out of the country. President Ashraf Ghani was one of the pallbearers. When Nakamura's coffin...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 21, 2019

Former New Zealand PM Jenny Shipley denies writing pro-China article in Communist Party paper

A former New Zealand prime minister has denied writing an article attributed to her by the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party that praised the Asian giant's economic development at a time of strained ties.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 3, 2018

Abe versus Japan's 'invisible hand'

Will public opinion thwart Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's effort to amend the Constitution?
EDITORIALS
Dec 27, 2017

Consensus needed on revising the Constitution

Government discussions on amending the Constitution should not be driven by time frames or political considerations.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 12, 2017

Abe's bid to revise charter by 2020 irks LDP veterans

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's subtle strategy for marketing constitutional revision like a 2020 image commercial leaves his party's veterans feeling irritated and undermined.
Reader Mail
May 12, 2017

Abe is on the warpath to scrap Article 9

Regarding the story "Public split on Article 9 change" in the May 1 edition, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been deliberately fanning the "tensions" with North Korea in the hopes of frightening enough of the public that they will go along with his desire to scrap the Constitution's Article 9.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 3, 2017

Abe declares 2020 as goal for new Constitution

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he hopes to see a revised Constitution take effect in 2020, revealing the clearest goal yet of his long-held ambition to amend the national charter.
EDITORIALS
Nov 20, 2016

Reopening Diet Constitution panels

Changes to the Constitution should be made only if it's necessary, not just because Shinzo Abe has the needed votes in the Diet to call a referendum.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 11, 2016

The surrender of Japan's peace Constitution

Domestic opposition to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's effort to alter Japan's defense posture, though broad, does not run very deep.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 22, 2015

Japan's fading pacifism leaves Japanese worried

Shinzo Abe is a politician who found himself powerful enough to act on his own ideas, apart from what many feel are his nation's legitimate security needs.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
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