Constitutional reform in Japan, colloquially known as , is an ongoing political effort to reform the Constitution of Japan.
The effort recently gained traction in the 2010s as the Japanese government under then-prime minister Shinzo Abe attempted to revise Article 9 of the Constitution, which prohibits Japan from waging war as means to settle international disputes, as well as prohibiting Japan from having an armed forces with war potential. Although Abe's attempt was unsuccessful due to his leaving office in 2020 and his subsequent assassination, succeeding prime minister Fumio Kishida said that he was "determined" to work on constitutional reform, citing the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, recent tensions in Taiwan, and North Korea's development of weapons of mass destruction as his basis.
Overview
Article 96 provides that amendments can be made to the Constitution if approved by super majority of two-thirds of both houses of the National Diet (the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors), and then by a simple majority in a popular referendum. The Emperor promulgates the successful amendment in the name of the people, and cannot veto it. Details of the process is determined by the and the .
Unlike some constitutions (e.g. the American, German, Italian, and French Constitutions), Japan's Constitution does not have an explicit entrenchment provision limiting what can be amended. However, the Preamble of the Constitution declared democracy to be the "universal principle of mankind" and Article 97 proclaims the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution to be "for all time inviolable." Because of this, scholars generally believe that basic principles such as the sovereignty of the people, pacifism, and respect for human rights are unamendable.N. Ashibe, Kenpō (Constitutional Law), 4th edn, supplemented by K. Takahashi (Tokyo, 2007), pp. 378–381 More broadly, fundamental norms written in the Constitution by constituent power cannot be amended. The preamble of the Constitution states: "We reject and revoke all constitutions, laws, ordinances, and rescripts in conflict herewith". Pacifism, popular sovereignty and respect for basic human rights are among them according to the Preamble and Article 11.Hideki SHIBUTANI(渋谷秀樹)(2013) Japanese Constitutional Law. 2nd ed.(憲法 第2版) p34-5 Yuhikaku Publishing(有斐閣)
History The Constitution has not been amended since its enactment in 1946. Some commentators have suggested that the Constitution's American authors favoured the difficulty of the amendment process from a desire that the fundamentals of the regime they had imposed would be resistant to change. The possibility of change to the document and to the post-war settlement it embodies has been highly controversial. From the 1960s to the 1980s, Constitutional revision was rarely debated, although amendment of the Constitution has been one of the party line of the LDP since it was formed. In the 1990s, right-leaning and conservative voices broke some taboos, for example, when the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun published a suggestion for Constitutional revision in 1994. This period saw a number of right-leaning groups pushing aggressively for Constitutional revision and a significant number of organizations and individuals speaking out against revision and in support of "the peace Constitution".
The debate has been highly polarised. The most controversial issues are proposed changes to Article 9—the "peace article"—and provisions relating to the role of the Emperor. Progressive, left, centre-left and peace movement-related individuals and organizations, as well as the opposition parties, labor and youth groups advocate keeping or strengthening the existing Constitution in these areas, while right-leaning, nationalist and conservative groups and individuals advocate changes to increase the prestige of the Emperor (though not granting him political powers) and to allow a more aggressive stance of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) by turning it officially into a military. Other areas of the Constitution and connected laws discussed for potential revision related to the status of women, the education system and the system of public corporations (including social welfare, non-profit and religious organizations as well as foundations), and structural reform of the election process, e.g. to allow for direct election of the prime minister. Numerous grassroots groups, associations, NGOs, think tanks, scholars, and politicians speak out on either side of the issue.
Amendment Drafts by the LDP
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), one of the most influential political parties in Japan, which has been in majority in the Diet for most of the time since its 1955 establishment, has adopted several party platforms, each of which lists "revision of the current constitution" as a political motive. One of the earliest platforms, "The Duties of the Party" in 1955, points out as follows:
In recent years, the LDP has committed itself more to constitutional revision, following its victory in the September 2005 general election of the representatives. Currently, the party has released two versions of amendment drafts, one in 2005 and another in 2012.
2005 Draft In August 2005, the then Japanese Prime Minister, Junichirō Koizumi, proposed an amendment to the constitution to increase Japan's Defence Forces' roles in international affairs. A draft of the proposed constitution was released by the LDP on 22 November 2005, as part of the fiftieth anniversary of the party's founding. The proposed changes included:
New wording for the Preamble. First paragraph of Article 9, renouncing war, is retained. The second paragraph, forbidding the maintenance of "land, sea, and air forces, as well as another war potential" is replaced by an Article 9-2 which permits a "defense force", under the control of the Prime Minister, to defend the nation, and which may participate in international activities. This new section uses the term "軍" (gun, "army" or "military"), which has been avoided in the current constitution. It also adds Article 76 about military courts; members of the JSDF are currently tried as civilians by civilian courts. Modified wording in Article 13, regarding respect for individual rights. Changes in Article 20, which gives the state limited permission within "the scope of socially acceptable protocol" for "ethnocultural practices". Changes Article 89 to permit corresponding state funding of religious institutions. Changes to Articles 92 and 95, concerning local self-government and relations between local and national governments. Changes to Article 96, reducing the vote requirement for constitutional amendments in the Diet from two-thirds to a simple majority. A national referendum would still be required.
This draft prompted debate, with strong opposition coming even from non-governmental organizations of other countries, as well as established and newly formed grassroots Japanese organizations, such as Save Article 9. Per the current constitution, a proposal for constitutional changes must be passed by a two-thirds vote in the Diet, then be put to a national referendum. However, in 2005, there was no legislation in place for such a referendum.
Koizumi's successor, Shinzo Abe, vowed to push aggressively for Constitutional revision. A major step toward this was getting legislation passed to allow for a national referendum in April 2007. By that time, there was little public support for changing the Constitution, with a survey showing 34.5% of Japanese not wanting any changes, 44.5% wanting no changes to Article 9, and 54.6% supporting the current interpretation on self-defense. On the 60th anniversary of the Constitution, on 3 May 2007, thousands took to the streets in support of Article 9. The Chief Cabinet secretary and other top government officials interpreted the survey to mean that the public wanted a pacifist Constitution that renounces war, and may need to be better informed about the details of the revision debate.Support falls for amending Constitution | The Japan Times Online The legislation passed by parliament specifies that a referendum on Constitutional reform could take place at the earliest in 2010, and would need approval from a majority of voters.
2012 Draft
On April 27, 2012, the LDP drafted a new version of the amendment,Nihon-koku Kenpou Kaisei Souan, http://www.jimin.jp/policy/policy_topics/pdf/seisaku-109.pdf with an explanatory bookletNihon-koku Kenpou Kaisei Souan Q & A, http://www.jimin.jp/policy/pamphlet/pdf/kenpou_qa.pdf for general readers. The booklet states that the spirit of the amendment is to "make the Constitution more suitable for Japan" by "drastically revising the translationese wording and the provisions based on the theory of natural human rights currently adopted in the Constitution".Nihon-koku Kenpou Kaisei Souan Q & A, p. 3. The proposed changes includes:
Preamble: In the LDP draft, the Preamble declares that Japan is reigned by the Emperor and adopts the popular sovereignty and trias politica principles. The current Preamble refers to the government as a trust of the people (implying the "natural rights codified into the constitution by the social contract" model) and ensures people "the right to live in peace, free from fear and want", but both mentions are deleted in the LDP draft. Emperor: Overall, the LDP draft adopts a wording that sounds as though the Emperor has greater power than under the current Constitution.For example, the paragraph (4) of Article 6 of the LDP draft requires that the Emperor should obtain the shingen ("advice", especially one given from a subordinate to his superior) from the Cabinet, as opposed to the jogen to shōnin ("advice and approval") as stipulated in the current Constitution, for his all acts in matters of the State. The booklet explains that the reason for this change is because the phrase jogen to shōnin sounds "offensive to the Emperor" (Nihon-koku Kenpou Kaisei Souan Q & A, p. 8). The draft defines him as "the head of the State" (Article 1).The LDP explains that the reason of this change is because the Emperor was formerly defined as "the head of the Empire" in the Article 4 of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan (Nihon-koku Kenpou Kaisei Souan Q & A, p. 7). Compared to the current Constitution, he is exempted from "the obligation to respect and uphold this Constitution" (Article 102). The draft defines Nisshōki as the national flag and Kimigayo the national anthem (Article 3). Human rights: The LDP draft, as the accompanying booklet states, revises many of the human rights provisions currently adopted in the Constitution. The booklet describes the reason for these changes as: "Human rights should have ground on the State's history, culture and tradition" and "Several of the current Constitutional provisions are based on the Western-European theory of natural human rights; such provisions, therefore, require to be changed."Nihon-koku Kenpou Kaisei Souan Q & A, p. 14. The draft lists every instance of the basic rights as something that is entitled by the State as opposed to something that human beings inherently possess as seen in the draft provisions of "new human rights" (see below).