Japan's Official Pacifism Undergoing Reinterpretation

Cicerone said to me: Third party prayers do not work; that's been researched at both Harvard and Yale Universities. Your problem is religious ignorance.

Cicerone said: Most things that are repeated and can be observed and recorded can be researched. Do you understand anything about science?
That prayer can't be researched is the height of ignorance!

The reason prayer can't be tested in experiments is because negative vibes from bystanders will disrupt it.

Japan’s Self-Defense Defense
(Joseph S. Nye, Opinion Essay, August 6, 2014)

CAMBRIDGE – Since the end of World War II, Japan has been ruled by an American-written “peace constitution,” Article 9 of which prohibits war and limits Japanese forces to self-defense. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is now seeking legislation to enable Japan to reinterpret the constitution to include “collective self-defense,” whereby the country would enhance its security cooperation with other countries, particularly its closest ally, the United States.

Critics view this as a radical departure from seven decades of pacifism. But Abe’s central objectives – improving Japan’s ability to respond to threats that do not amount to armed attack; enabling Japan to participate more effectively in international peacekeeping activities; and redefining measures for self-defense permitted under Article 9 – are actually relatively modest.

Fears that the move would lead to Japanese involvement in distant US wars are similarly overblown. Indeed, the rules have been carefully crafted to prohibit such adventures, while allowing Japan to work more closely with the US on direct threats to Japanese security.

Read more at http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/joseph-s--nye-explains-why-the-abe-government-s-new-military-doctrine-is-a-positive-development#BiTBTCW4riqOwWmL.99

NAGASAKI MAYOR QUESTIONS POLICY ON A-BOMB DAY
By MARI YAMAGUCHI— Aug. 9, 2014

TOKYO (AP) — The mayor of Nagasaki on Saturday criticized Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push toward Japan's more assertive defense policy, as the city marked the 69th anniversary of the atomic bombing.

In his "peace declaration" speech at the ceremony in Nagasaki's Peace Park, Mayor Tomihisa Taue urged Abe's government to listen to growing public concerns over Japan's commitment to its pacifist pledge.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/nagasaki-mayor-questions-policy-bomb-day-0

Anniversary of war’s end sees Japan still committed to path of peace
August 15, 2014, The Yomiuri Shimbun

Today, Aug. 15, marks again the anniversary of the end of the war.

This is the day we renew our pledge of peace and our determination not to engage in war, while also quietly paying tribute to the memory of those who died in World War II.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration decided in July on a new constitutional interpretation that acknowledged the country’s limited ability to exercise the right of collective self-defense.

In connection with this, Mayor Tomihisa Taue of Nagasaki expressed “anxiety and apprehension” in the Peace Declaration of Nagasaki on the 69th anniversary of the atomic bombing of that city on Aug. 9, stating that “the rushed debate over collective self-defense has given rise to the concern that this principle [of pacifism] is wavering.” Others are also averse to the government’s reinterpretation of the Constitution, making such claims as that the new government view could “pave the way for Japan to again take part in a war.”
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001499313

Return of the samurai: Japan steps away from pacifist constitution as military eyes threat from China
(Matthew Carney, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, August 19, 2014)

Ever since it surrendered to the allies at the end of World War II, Japan's military effort has been homebound.

The Japanese Self-Defence Forces have been precisely that – remaining vigilant to outside threats but constitutionally restrained from striking the first blow.

Now, with an assertive China throwing its weight around in North Asia, there is a developing inclination among Japan's leadership to take its tactical lead from another playbook: that the best form of defence is attack.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-19/japan-expands-their-military-amid-growing-tensions-with-china/5672932

Aged Japan veterans voice concerns about military policy shift
BY KIYOSHI TAKENAKA
TOKYO, August 14, 2014

(Reuters) - Tokuro Inokuma, a former Imperial Japanese Army soldier, got his first taste of the horrors of war in 1945 when he scrambled to gather up the scattered limbs of his fellow servicemen, blown apart by a U.S. air raid in Japan. He was 16.

One of a dwindling number of World War Two veterans, Inokuma now finds troubling echoes in Tokyo's policy shift away from the pacifist ideals adhered to after 1945.

"I find it quite dangerous ... This is the path we once took," said Inokuma, who fought in China soon after the deadly air strike, and survived two years in concentration camps in the then-Soviet Union following Japan's surrender.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/14/us-japan-defence-soldiers-idUSKBN0GE04420140814?feedType=RSS&feedName=everything&virtualBrandChannel=11563