Tag - constitution

 
 

CONSTITUTION

JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 12, 2015
Japan security bills reveal irreconcilable divide between scholars, politicians
The full-scale battle over security reform highlights an unbridgeable gap between politicians and scholars that will have to be filled by Japan's less-than-proactive Supreme Court.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 12, 2015
Political veterans warn of crisis in security revamp
In a rare show of unity, four veteran politicians from rival parties hold court at the Japan Press Club to speak out against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's security bills.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 12, 2015
Media should stop legitimizing Abe's Article 9 'reinterpretation'
The media should stop giving the Abe administration's 'reinterpretation' of Article 9 a legitimacy and validity that it does not enjoy under Japan's constitutional system.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Jun 12, 2015
As Magna Carta turns 800, scholars reflect on its influence in Japan
Next Monday marks 800 years since an agreement was made between an English king and his feuding barons that was to have long-term ramifications across the world.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 10, 2015
Government defends security legislation after experts assail it as unconstitutional
The Abe government countered on Wednesday an assessment by three respected scholars that two security bills it has tabled are unconstitutional.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 8, 2015
Defense chief opposed 'deceiving' people with constitutional 'interpretation techniques'
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani voiced opposition just two years ago to reinterpreting the Constitution in order to end Japan's ban on helping an allied nation defend itself, contradicting the Abe administration's position.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Jun 7, 2015
Hey bureaucrats, leave those kids — and teachers — alone
To look at Japan's educational policy in action, you can't help but wonder if insularity and mediocrity might actually be the goal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 6, 2015
Inspiring story of 'the only woman in the room'
"My father came to Tokyo from Karuizawa to meet me," wrote Beate Sirota Gordon in a message to me, which she sent several years before her death in 2012 at age 89. "He looked gaunt and undernourished. ... My mother did not come because undernourishment had caused her to swell up, and she was ill in bed....
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 5, 2015
Experts' tongue-lashing rekindles Diet debate on reinterpreted Constitution
The surprise tongue-lashing in the Diet meted out by three noted constitutional scholars has reignited debate on whether the Cabinet's reinterpretation of Article 9 last year was legitimate.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 28, 2015
Abe says Constitution would rule out full-scale invasion, but 'exceptions' are unclear
As debate rages in the Diet over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's security bills, the opposition has identified a key question: Could Japan use force on foreign territory to support the U.S.?
JAPAN / Politics
May 27, 2015
Abe lays out scenarios for SDF dispatch if security bills pass
If contentious security reform bills are enacted by the Diet, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says Japanese forces could hypothetically be dispatched to mine-sweeping operations in the Strait of Hormuz.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2015
Should Japanese liberals support revising Article 9?
Rather than leave the interpretation of Article 9 to each administration, perhaps it should be revised so government policies could be placed under the potential constraints of judicial review.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 26, 2015
Lower House finally takes up contentious security bills
The Lower House kicks off much-awaited deliberations on two contentious security bills that would greatly expand the scope of the Self-Defense Forces' missions overseas, and opposition lawmakers immediately go on the attack.
JAPAN / Politics
May 20, 2015
SDF will only be deployed to 'safe' places, Abe says
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe rebuffed criticism on Wednesday that the government's contentious security legislation would put Self-Defense Forces personnel at greater risk, saying they would provide logistics support in areas that are safe.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
May 16, 2015
MacArthur's JapaneseConstitution
The Constitution is one of the more controversial documents of our age. Some want it rewritten, some hold it as an inviolable sacred text. Article 9 — the article renouncing war — has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants it abolished. Yet for all the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 15, 2015
Peace or war? Diet plays security bill name game
The government says two safely named security bills endorsed by the Cabinet are for “peace,” but the titles aren't flying with everyone.
EDITORIALS
May 15, 2015
Defense bills remain problematic
The Abe administration's legislative package to expand the SDF's role finally reaches the Diet — but still remains poorly explained.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 15, 2015
Experts split on proposed SDF reforms; poll suggests public wary
Two noted experts interviewed by The Japan Times have contrasting views of Prime Minister Abe's ambitions to alter Japan's postwar security posture.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 14, 2015
Abe: Japan won't slide into U.S. war despite collective defense loophole
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tried to brush off concerns Thursday that Japan could be dragged into a war involving the United States, saying the government's security legislation allows the Self-Defense Forces to address every situation in a seamless manner to protect Japanese citizens.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 11, 2015
LDP produces manga to make case for constitutional revision
The Liberal Democratic Party has published a new manga targeted at younger voters that argues the pacifist Constitution should be revised because it was hastily written in just eight days — by foreigners.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals