Japan's prime minister: Make war, not love?

Is Japan on the brink of abandoning its 70-year-old renunciation of war? More than 30,000 protesters gathered outside Tokyo’s parliament building last August to chant “No to war legislation!” “Scrap the bills now!” and “Abe, quit!” But last week Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pushed his plan to amend Article 9 of Japan’s 1946 Constitution, which includes, “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.”

Kenichi Shinagawa, general director of the Japan Evangelical Association, said, “Abe and his regime have been putting much pressure on news media and they will have succeeded in getting rid of most of their opposing newscasters on TV by the end of March.” Most Japanese Christians fear the Abe government’s push for an expanded military role as a return to pre-World War II militarism, Shinagawa said.

Paradoxically, even though Article 9 pledges that “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained,” the U.S. military encouraged a mutual defense relationship as Cold War tensions rose in the 1950s. This resulted in the establishment of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF) in 1954, but many Japanese believe the SDF should not engage in combat overseas and are proud of Article 9. By 2014, more than 440,000 signatures signed a proposal that the Nobel Peace Prize be awarded “for Japan’s Constitution.”

“I’m afraid the legislation is really going to reverse the direction of this country, where pacifism was our pride,” said 44-year-old A. Hashimoto, who joined last August’s protest with her 5-year-old son. “I feel our voices are neglected by the Abe government.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.