Japan’s Constitution and Defense Policy: Entering a New Era?

Authors

Rust Deming, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University

Files

Description

Japan’s postwar defense policy was set by the 1947 constitution. Early in the occupation, General Douglas MacArthur and his staff concluded that the 19th-century Meiji constitution needed to be revised or entirely replaced if Japan were to become a true democracy, with the Emperor removed from any political role. In January 1946, convinced that the elitist and authoritarian Japanese establishment was incapable of producing a democratic constitution, MacArthur ordered his staff to produce a draft. One week later, an entirely rewritten constitution emerged and was presented to the Japanese. Included in the draft was Article IX:

War as a sovereign right of the nation is abolished. The threat or use of force is forever renounced as a means of settling disputes with any other nation. No Army, Navy, Air Force, or other war potential will ever be authorized and no right of belligerency will ever be conferred upon the state.¹

Document Type

Policy Brief

Publication Date

11-2004

Publication

Strategic Forum

Publisher

National Defense University Press

City

Washington, DC

Recommended Citation

Deming, Rust, "Japan’s Constitution and Defense Policy: Entering a New Era?" (2004). Strategic Forums. 13.
https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/strategic-forums/13