Japan - scuffles as Shinzo Abe ends post-WWII pacifism

[outsider]

Japan PM to overturn pacifist defence policy:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/30/japan-pm-overturn-pacifis t-defence-policy-shinzo-abe

Japanese PM angers the Japanese people by side-stepping a Referendum and just introducing new legislation:

'..Japan's postwar constitution prohibits the use of force to settle international disputes – a restriction Abe and his supporters say inhibits the country's ability to protect itself and its allies, despite growing fears over North Korea's nuclear programme and China's aggressive territorial claims in the region.

Abe's decision to introduce legislation that would reinterpret the pacifist clause in the constitution, which has prevented Japanese forces from fighting overseas since the end of the second world war, came after opinion polls indicated he would struggle to win enough support in parliament and among voters for outright constitutional reform.

The change to be approved on Tuesday would require a simple majority in both houses; his ruling Liberal Democratic party [LDP] has a comfortable majority in the lower house and controls the upper house with the support of a junior coalition partner. Changing the wording of the constitution, however, would require a two-thirds majority in both houses and a simple majority in a nationwide referendum.

In a poll published on Monday the Nikkei business newspaper found that 50% of voters were against overturning the ban on collective self-defence, while 34% supported the change.

The results were released a day after a man set himself alight in central Tokyo, apparently in protest at the policy. The unidentified man, who remains in a serious condition in hospital, had criticised Abe's proposals before attempting to kill himself in front of horrified onlookers...'

also: Japan's postwar constitution prohibits the use of force to settle international disputes – a restriction Abe and his supporters say inhibits the country's ability to protect itself and its allies, despite growing fears over North Korea's nuclear programme and China's aggressive territorial claims in the region.

Abe's decision to introduce legislation that would reinterpret the pacifist clause in the constitution, which has prevented Japanese forces from fighting overseas since the end of the second world war, came after opinion polls indicated he would struggle to win enough support in parliament and among voters for outright constitutional reform.

The change to be approved on Tuesday would require a simple majority in both houses; his ruling Liberal Democratic party [LDP] has a comfortable majority in the lower house and controls the upper house with the support of a junior coalition partner. Changing the wording of the constitution, however, would require a two-thirds majority in both houses and a simple majority in a nationwide referendum.

In a poll published on Monday the Nikkei business newspaper found that 50% of voters were against overturning the ban on collective self-defence, while 34% supported the change.

The results were released a day after a man set himself alight in central Tokyo, apparently in protest at the policy. The unidentified man, who remains in a serious condition in hospital, had criticised Abe's proposals before attempting to kill himself in front of horrified onlookers.

Also: Unlocked & Loaded: Japan PM dodges checks with 'illegal' troop deploy push:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jI5JdhteEc&feature=em-uploademail

I suppose that's one way to take people's minds of Fukushima!

[TonyGosling]

Abe's Japan - Fascist and Falling
How fast can a country deteriorate? How promptly can it lose its culture, its soul?
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/bloggers/Abes-Japan---Fascist-and-Fal ling-20150925-0001.html

Japan was my home for many years. I was running there from countless war zones, to get some rest, to enjoy beautiful nature and its ancient, deep culture.

I learned all about its legends and fairytales, I knew its creeks and peaks, villages lost in time.

I came here to think and to write, on board those marvelous high-speed trains, Shinkansens.

But in just a few years, things have gone to the dogs: first slowly, gradually, and then more and more rapidly.

Several “care-free” generations, obsessed with pleasure, entertainment, individualism – generations fully influenced by the West – have finally broken the Japanese spirit, turning it into a bizarre hybrid.

The surface still remains intact, but there is hardly any depth underneath: A train conductor bows humbly to the passengers when leaving the car, but an old lady with heavy shopping bags will not get her seat from an aggressive-looking high school girl, yelling “kuso” (*!) after every second word.

*

Japan of the right wing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is bellicose, racist, discriminative but also confused and full of complexes.

It is suddenly not such a great place to be, particularly if you are looking for harmony and social justice.

Only recently, Japan had the most equal distribution of wealth on earth, much better than Europe or Australia. It was easy to spot an MP eating in the same ramen noodle shop as a cleaning lady, if the ramen was good.

Now North American bad habits are infiltrating Japan: life-time employment guarantee is melting away, day by day, and unprotected millions are joining workforce as part-time or contract workers.

There are tens of thousand of homeless people in all major cities – something unthinkable in mainland China or Vietnam.

Just recently, Abe managed to pass a law allowing Japan to participate in combats abroad.

Of course, Abe’s so-called “nationalism” has nothing to do with the aristocratic patriotism of people like Yukio Mishima (one of the greatest modern writers, who publicly committed hara-kiri as a protest against the shameful Japanese collaboration with the United States).

The nationalism of Abe is nothing less than collaboration: a betrayal of both his own nation and his own continent – Asia.

Japan is now firmly on the side of oppressors.

It is openly antagonistic to both Russia and China, and it is tightening cooperation with all right wing, oppressive regimes in Asia, from Indonesia to the Philippines and Thailand.

A legendary Australian historian, Geoffrey Gunn, told me recently in Nagasaki: “Well, the fact of the matter is that China is indignant at its encirclement. China is indignant that Washington backs Japan, that Washington is ready to support Japan’s non-negotiation policy over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. So we see, in this situation, a clearly indignant China, and Japan that is taking a basically aggressive position in relation to so-called territorial integrity. So Pacific Asia is increasingly becoming more belligerent, more conflict-prone East Asia.”

Japan has gone mad. It has sacrificed its pride; and it has thrown its might behind the Western aggressors. In the past, its Western handlers allowed it to get rich through the blood spilled by Korean, Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian people – during the U.S. beastly invasions and carpet-bombing campaigns. Japan supported all of these genocides, and it was making huge amount of money.

But still, it lost! Korea now has higher Human Development Index (HDI) than Japan, while communist China has bigger economy, faster running trains and greater cultural centers.

All this selling itself to the Westerners did not pay off.

And so comes hate! So came wounded pride.

“Most Japanese people now feel antagonistic towards both Chinese and Korean people,” my film editor in Osaka told me.

Instead of changing course, Japan is plunging deeper and deeper, in fact all the way, into unsavory annals of collaboration.

It discriminates. It treats foreigners like *. It does not even pretend to be polite, anymore.

Come to Abe’s Japan! Land at Kansai Airport and if you are a foreigner, you will be humiliated. Yesterday, I stood 63 minutes in line and observed how some deranged senior citizens armed with bit of power were yelling and bossing shocked passengers. From landing to collecting my luggage it took a full 90 minutes. Including time to be fingerprinted and photographed. It used to take 20 minutes before bloody Abe.

Today I went to Travelex, to pick up some cash sent to me by a magazine in Moscow. Again, humiliation, tons of papers, refusal, by some rude, little aggressive individual called Maki Sekiguchi ... I wrote to Russia and received a prompt reply from the Chief Editor: “I have the impression that they have some secret instruction in place to make all transfers from Russia to be as painful as they could possibly be, authors are complaining about that.”

*

Instead of turning its back on the West, Japan is now subverting young Asian intellectuals, through grants it is giving, and through the brainwashing it calls “education”.

Japan does not have any independent media. I worked for their newspapers, and I know, precisely, that everything that is printed has to be approved. Quality of the Japanese media outlets is disgusting.

As one of the leading mainstream Western journalists based in Tokyo recently confirmed: “The NHK or any other Japanese channel would never dare to air any idea that was not previously broadcasted by the CNN, BBC or FOX TV.”

But Japan “educates” tens of thousands of Southeast Asians, and “communications” is one of the most popular subjects.

“Japan does not have its own foreign policy”, David McNeill, Professor at prestigious Sofia University in Tokyo, told me.

But it feels fit to educate Southeast Asian students in such fields as political science! One wonders, what exactly would those students learn? How to collaborate, how to bend forward, and how to kiss backsides of the West?

*

It is all truly shameful, pathetic end of Japan’s “glory”.

Ruling elites and their nationalism ... Not Japanese nationalism, but Western!

No wonder, the U.S. occupation was based on the scrubbing and polishing of the old Japanese imperialist, fascist cadres, and putting them back to the top of the hierarchy. After all, the U.S. and Japanese imperialism have always had plenty in common.

But could any country survive, stand for decades on such disgraceful foundations!

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[TonyGosling]

Scuffles as Japan security bill approved by committee
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34275968
17 September 2015
Scuffles broke out in parliament amid wrangling over Japan's security bill

A controversial bill to expand the role of Japan's armed forces has cleared another hurdle in parliament, but sparked scuffles among lawmakers.

Opposition MPs physically tried to stop the vote in a legislative committee by jostling around the chairman and trying to snatch his paperwork and microphone.

The committee's vote clears the way for the bill to go to the upper house of parliament for final approval.

The opposition says it will continue to try to delay the vote.

The bill would allow Japan to defend its allies overseas even when it is not under attack.

The bill is not widely supported by the country at large. Thousands of protesters rallied outside the parliament in Tokyo as the committee debate was under way.

Opposition lawmakers tried to physically prevent the debate from taking place.

In rare heated scenes, jostling members of the upper house surrounded the chairman of the security committee, Yoshitada Konoike, as he opened the debate on Wednesday and again on Thursday morning as the vote was taking place.

The opposition had also tabled a no-confidence vote against Mr Konoike.

Wednesday night's session was abandoned in the early hours of Thursday after opposition lawmakers blocked entry to a room where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other ministers were waiting to discuss the bill.
Japanese lawmakers surround the committee chairman during the vImage copyrightAPImage captionLawmakers surrounded the committee chairman as the vote was passedJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (left), Defence Minister GenImage copyrightEPAImage captionEarlier, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (left) and his defence and foreign minsters waited for hours in a nearly empty committee roomA lawmaker rests as he waits for the start of the upper house cImage copyrightReutersImage captionWednesday night's committee session was eventually abandoned at 3:50am
Delaying tactics

The bill has already been approved by the government-dominated lower house.

It is expected to be passed in the upper house because the ruling coalition has a majority there - this was why opponents were keen to prevent the committee from approving the legislation.

It is thought Mr Abe's government wants to pass the bills before the country goes into a five-day holiday on Saturday, which could provide an opportunity for even bigger protests.

If the upper house does not pass the bills within 60 days, they will have to be returned the lower house.

It is a step Mr Abe is thought to be willing to take. His Liberal Democratic Party-led bloc has a two-thirds majority in the lower chamber, the House of Representatives.

Despite his majorities in both houses, the controversial bills, and Mr Abe's determination to push them through despite vocal opposition, appear to have damaged his popularity.

Polls have consistently shown a majority of the public are opposed to the changes, and relatively few strongly support them.


What is collective self-defence?

Japan's post-World War Two constitution bars it from using force to resolve conflicts except in cases of self-defence.

Mr Abe's government has pushed for security legislation that would allow Japan's military to mobilise overseas when these three conditions are met:
when Japan is attacked, or when a close ally is attacked, and the result threatens Japan's survival and poses a clear danger to people
when there is no other appropriate means available to repel the attack and ensure Japan's survival and protect its people
use of force is restricted to a necessary minimum

What's behind Japan's military shift?

The government says Japan needs to pass the bills, which are welcomed by the US, to ensure regional peace and security in the face of rising Chinese assertiveness. It also says they will allow the country to participate more widely in global peacekeeping missions.

But opponents say the legislation violates Japan's post-war pacifist constitution, and could lead to it being dragged into US-led conflicts.

Despite the likelihood of eventual defeat, opposition to the bills has been credited with helping reverse decades of youth disengagement from politics in Japan. Students in particular, have been closely involved in leading protests once dominated by trade unionists and greying left-wing activists.

[outsider]

Japanese, British defense chiefs agree to build closer ties:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/japanese-british-defe nse-chiefs-agree-to-build-closer-ties?

'TOKYO —

Japanese and British defense ministers agreed Saturday to strengthen the two countries’ defense cooperation to fight terrorism and threats to stability in the Asia-Pacific region such as North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

The meeting between Gen Nakatani and Michael Fallon in Tokyo followed the so-called two-plus-two talks the previous day by the two countries’ foreign and defense ministers.

The defense ministers reaffirmed that Japan and Britain will closely cooperate in actions against North Korea which said Wednesday it successfully conducted a hydrogen bomb test.

In view of North Korea’s nuclear programs and China’s growing military activities in the South China Sea, Nakatani and Fallon agreed to seek Britain’s stronger involvement in the Asia-Pacific region.

“We have created a foundation to jointly raise our voices and cope” with security issues, Nakatani told reporters after the meeting.'


If Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya (to name just the main recipients of the West's 'Regime Change Program' slaughter and destruction) had possessed nukes, they wouldn't have been attacked and devastated.
Whilst I am no supporter of North Korea, I do believe they have every right to develop and deploy them against aggressive NWO/NATO and other 'Regime Change' War Criminals.

Wow, the North Koreans must have read my mind! Moving down the 'Japan Today' top story list, I came to this:

'North Korean defiance challenges moral authority of nuclear club':
http://www.japantoday.com/category/opinions/view/n-korean-defiance-cha llenges-moral-authority-of-nuclear-club?

[Whitehall_Bin_Men]

About 37,000 protesters rally against Japan's controversial security laws in Tokyo
Source: Xinhua 2016-03-29 22:56:03
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-03/29/c_135234343.htm

TOKYO, March 19, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Protesters attend a rally against the security laws in Tokyo, Japan, March 19, 2016. Thousands of people gathered for the protest. (Xinhua/Ma Ping) By Liu Tian

TOKYO, March 29 (Xinhua)-- Some 37,000 demonstrators gathered around the Japanese National Diet building on Tuesday protesting the controversial security laws which came into effect on the day and demanding the retraction of the legislation due to its unconstitutional nature.

The protesters held posters that read "War is over," "Retract the security laws immediately" and "Abe administration step down" and shouted they oppose the security laws and protect the country's war-renouncing constitution.

The security legislation was designed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to enhance Japan's alliance with the United States by exercising the right to collective self-defense, meaning that under the new legislation, Japan could dispatch its Self-Defense Forces (SDF) overseas to engage in armed conflicts for the first time in 70 years even if Japan itself is not attacked.

However, the Japanese Supreme Law, known as the pacifist constitution, bans the SDF from involving in combat outside Japanese territories and from exercising the right to collective defense.

During the rally, Yukio Edano, secretary-general of the newly launched opposition party of the Democratic Party, said that the Abe administration disregarded the constitution so that it has lost its legality, adding that it is the "individual defense right" rather than the "collective defense" that the country needs to protect.

Kikuko Yamaguchi, 66, said the government ignored the public voices over the legislation, adding that Japan vowed to renounce war seven decades ago and it has been enshrined in the country's constitution.

"I don't want my children and grandsons to go to the battlefield," Yamaguchi told Xinhua.

Nahoko Hishiyama, a member of the rally's organizers, said that what the prime minister has done trampled on the country's democratic system as he refuses to pay attention to the opposite voices from the public and the academy.

"As the Diet has not debate on the bill filed by the opposition parties requiring the retraction of the security laws, what we could do is to ask prime minister Abe to step down," the 26-year-old said.

Although the security laws became effective, the Japanese government, however, delayed the timetable for the SDF to play its enlarged role in order to avoid further criticism from the public ahead of this summer's upper house election.

The election is seen by Abe as significant for his ruling camp to launch a constitution amendment motion in the future if the ruling bloc secures two thirds majority in the chamber.

On Sunday, two largest opposition parties merged and formed the largest opposition party since the Abe administration came into being in late 2012. The newly launched party, the Democratic Party, vowed to make the issue of the security laws a main debate topic in the upcoming upper house election.

"We have to stop the 'reckless driving'of the Abe administration. This is the last chance to realize the politics in which it is possible to change ruling parties," Katsuya Okada, chief of the new opposition party, said in his party's recent inaugural convention in Tokyo.

Related:

Spotlight: Japan's security laws take effect, triggering extensive criticism

TOKYO/BANGKOK/SEOUL, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Japan's new controversial security laws took effect Tuesday, marking an overhaul of the country's exclusively defensive defense posture in the last seven decades.

The new laws, which enable Japanese troops to fight overseas, have drawn wide criticism from the international community for threatening to destabilize security and peace in the Asia-Pacific region. Full story

Commentary: Japan's security laws push Asia-Pacific region into abyss of instability

TOKYO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ambitiously blueprinted security laws took effect on Tuesday, historically switching Japan back to a fighting stance for the first time in seven decades, as the controversial laws ordered Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to stand ready to particulate in armed conflicts overseas.

By reinterpreting the country's war-renouncing Constitution, the warlord prime minister shook off the restraints of Article 9 of the supreme law over the use of force and the exercise of the right to collective self-defense, and vowed to proactively contribute to regional and international peace and stability.