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| Abe Wants to Revise Pacifist Constitution as Early as 2016, Ally Says | Abe Wants to Revise Pacifist Constitution as Early as 2016, Ally Says |
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| TOKYO — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said that he wants to start the process of revising Japan’s Constitution as early as next year, a senior lawmaker in his party said Thursday, giving the clearest indication yet that the Japanese leader will seek to change a document that has undergirded the country’s postwar pacifism. | |
| Mr. Abe told Hajime Funada, the leader of a group of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers, on Wednesday that the best time to begin the difficult political task of amending the Constitution would be after elections for the upper house of Parliament, scheduled for the summer of 2016, Mr. Funada said. Mr. Funada’s comments, which were originally reported by two Japanese newspapers, The Asahi Shimbun and The Sankei Shimbun, were later confirmed by his political secretary, Miki Mori. | |
| When Mr. Funada asked the prime minister whether the best time for starting the revision process would be after the upper house elections, Mr. Abe answered, “That would be common sense,” according to Mr. Mori. | |
| According to Mr. Mori, Mr. Abe did not specifically say that he wanted to rewrite Article 9 of the Constitution, which bars the use of armed force in resolving international disputes. But earlier this week, Mr. Abe told Parliament that he wanted to make that change, in order to strengthen Japan’s hand in responding to terrorist threats like the Islamic State militant group, which killed two Japanese hostages last month. | |
| The top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, confirmed at a news briefing Thursday that Mr. Abe had met with Mr. Funada and that the two had agreed that more effort was needed to win public support for constitutional change. | The top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, confirmed at a news briefing Thursday that Mr. Abe had met with Mr. Funada and that the two had agreed that more effort was needed to win public support for constitutional change. |
| “The two shared the opinion that time will be needed to promote a fuller debate about this,” Mr. Suga said. “I think this was not meant as a concrete deadline so much as agreeing that more public debate was needed, and that there is more effort to be done to achieve this.” | “The two shared the opinion that time will be needed to promote a fuller debate about this,” Mr. Suga said. “I think this was not meant as a concrete deadline so much as agreeing that more public debate was needed, and that there is more effort to be done to achieve this.” |
| The Constitution, which also bars Japan from possessing the means of war, was written by American occupiers after World War II to prevent the defeated nation from ever again engaging in militarist expansion. The document proved so popular among Japan’s war-weary people that it has never been amended. | The Constitution, which also bars Japan from possessing the means of war, was written by American occupiers after World War II to prevent the defeated nation from ever again engaging in militarist expansion. The document proved so popular among Japan’s war-weary people that it has never been amended. |
| Changing it would require the approval of two-thirds of Parliament, followed by majority support in a public referendum. With its landslide victory in December elections, Mr. Abe’s party is now close to mustering enough seats in the lower house to meet that threshold, but it still falls short in the upper house. A strong showing in next year’s elections could change that. | Changing it would require the approval of two-thirds of Parliament, followed by majority support in a public referendum. With its landslide victory in December elections, Mr. Abe’s party is now close to mustering enough seats in the lower house to meet that threshold, but it still falls short in the upper house. A strong showing in next year’s elections could change that. |
| Changing Article 9 would be sure to anger China as well as South Korea, both of which have frequently accused Japan of failing to come to terms with its past aggression. | Changing Article 9 would be sure to anger China as well as South Korea, both of which have frequently accused Japan of failing to come to terms with its past aggression. |
| Before becoming prime minister two years ago, Mr. Abe advocated rewriting the Constitution to allow a full-fledged military, saying that the document no longer reflected the realities that a democratic Japan faced in a rapidly changing world. But after taking office, Mr. Abe initially said little about constitutional revision, perhaps mindful of opinion polls consistently showing that a majority of Japanese still opposed changes that could make it easier to embroil their nation in foreign wars. | Before becoming prime minister two years ago, Mr. Abe advocated rewriting the Constitution to allow a full-fledged military, saying that the document no longer reflected the realities that a democratic Japan faced in a rapidly changing world. But after taking office, Mr. Abe initially said little about constitutional revision, perhaps mindful of opinion polls consistently showing that a majority of Japanese still opposed changes that could make it easier to embroil their nation in foreign wars. |
| But Mr. Abe has seized on the murders of the Japanese hostages to make some of his strongest appeals yet for unshackling the nation’s military. Saying Japan had been unable to save the hostages, he has called for easing restrictions on its purely defensive armed forces to allow them to conduct rescue missions, evacuations and other overseas operations to protect Japanese nationals. | But Mr. Abe has seized on the murders of the Japanese hostages to make some of his strongest appeals yet for unshackling the nation’s military. Saying Japan had been unable to save the hostages, he has called for easing restrictions on its purely defensive armed forces to allow them to conduct rescue missions, evacuations and other overseas operations to protect Japanese nationals. |
| The hostages, Kenji Goto, a journalist, and Haruna Yukawa, an adventurer, were beheaded a week apart by the Islamic State, a militant group in Syria and Iraq that had demanded a $200 million ransom for their release. The murders outraged and sickened Japan, which had seen itself as largely immune to the sort of violence faced by the United States and other nations that have been involved militarily in the Middle East. Since 1945, Japan has adhered to a peaceful brand of diplomacy that has seen it become a major donor of economic and humanitarian aid to the Middle East and elsewhere. | The hostages, Kenji Goto, a journalist, and Haruna Yukawa, an adventurer, were beheaded a week apart by the Islamic State, a militant group in Syria and Iraq that had demanded a $200 million ransom for their release. The murders outraged and sickened Japan, which had seen itself as largely immune to the sort of violence faced by the United States and other nations that have been involved militarily in the Middle East. Since 1945, Japan has adhered to a peaceful brand of diplomacy that has seen it become a major donor of economic and humanitarian aid to the Middle East and elsewhere. |
| It remains unclear whether the shock of the killings will swing the Japanese public in favor of Mr. Abe’s harder line or against it. Since the murders, opposition politicians have stepped up attacks on the prime minister, accusing him of provoking the Islamic State by allying Japan more closely with the United States-led efforts to destroy the militant group. Just days before the ransom demand appeared, Mr. Abe had pledged the same sum of $200 million in nonmilitary aid to countries in the region confronting the Islamic State. | It remains unclear whether the shock of the killings will swing the Japanese public in favor of Mr. Abe’s harder line or against it. Since the murders, opposition politicians have stepped up attacks on the prime minister, accusing him of provoking the Islamic State by allying Japan more closely with the United States-led efforts to destroy the militant group. Just days before the ransom demand appeared, Mr. Abe had pledged the same sum of $200 million in nonmilitary aid to countries in the region confronting the Islamic State. |
| However, the crisis has also appeared to unify Japan in anger at the militants. On Thursday, the lower house of Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the killings and calling for increased coordination with the global community to combat terrorism. | However, the crisis has also appeared to unify Japan in anger at the militants. On Thursday, the lower house of Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the killings and calling for increased coordination with the global community to combat terrorism. |