01 July 2014

Japan’s Article 9 Challenge

Adam Liff, Japan’s Article 9 Challenge,” The National Interest, 27 June 2014.

Throughout the postwar period, the Government of Japan’s (GOJ) definition and interpretation of collective self-defense and Article 9 of Japan’s constitution have played a crucial role in how its leaders develop and employ military power. This issue also has had significant implications for its political and security relationship with the United States.

Japan has arguably been alone among sovereign states in self-imposing a ban on exercise of the UN-sanctioned right of “collective self-defense,” despite recognizing that it too possesses this right. The crucial factor has been the government’s official interpretation of Article 9 of the constitution, which basically renounces war as Japan’s sovereign right and forbids it from threatening or using force to settle international disputes.

That Japan’s constitution has never been revised is widely known; but the GOJ’s interpretation of Article 9 has changed significantly over time, however. Indeed, there is precedent for effective ‘reinterpretation’ of Article 9 in response to changing circumstances within and outside Japan. After the Korean War, Tokyo effectively (re-)interpreted the definition of the term “war potential” prohibited by Article 9 to allow “that which does not exceed the minimum necessary level for self-defense.” This paved the way for the establishment of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) in 1954. By 1957 even nuclear weapons were deemed constitutional, provided they stayed within the scope of the new interpretation – i.e., of “minimum necessary level for self-defense” – a vague concept subject to political interpretation. These weapons have been eschewed, however, primarily for domestic political reasons. Other weapons GOJ defined as “offensive” (kogekigata), such as aircraft carriers, ICBMs, and strategic bombers, in contrast, were – and still are – deemed explicitly unconstitutional.

So, while the actual text of Article 9 remains unchanged, its interpretation has in practice been shaped by changing external conditions, weapon technologies, and shifting political winds at home. …