ipl-logo

Article 9 Of The Constitution Essay

1380 Words6 Pages

Since the end of World War II, Japan has pursued the path of a peace-loving nation. The Constitution, Article 9 in particular, drafted by the Allied occupation forms the foundation of this path. According to said Article, Japan is not allowed to maintain military forces in any shape or form. However; due to various circumstances, Japan has been forced to push the boundaries of the Article, leaving it an empty shell. Therefore, many people are questioning whether this Article is still appropriate and are suggesting that Japan should amend it. We will start by looking at the contents of Article 9, followed by their various interpretations. Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution consists of two paragraphs: 1: “Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and …show more content…

Furthermore, unlike in the English translation, in the Japanese version of the Article the word ‘war’ is clearly related to ‘as a sovereign right’ as well as to ‘as means of settling international disputes’. The phrase war ‘as a means of settling international disputes’ is similar to the one used in the General Pact for the Renunciation of War (1928), which Japan signed: “war for the solution of international controversies” (Umeda, 2006). This phrase in the Treaty refers solely to offensive operations, such as invading other countries. In Japan, consistency is a must when interpreting similar phrases of legal documents from the same era. Since the interpretation of the phrase in this Treaty excluded defensive operations, the same applies to Article 9. Therefore, Article 9 does not renounce war in self-defense according to the interpretation. However, this interpretation leaves the Article with ambiguous language, as it is nearly impossible to distinguish a war of self-defense and a war of invasion (Umeda,

Show More
Related
484 Words | 2 Pages

But is it enough? I also appreciate that through the years the just war theory has been expanded to include new parameters for methods and reasoning among other points (p. 143-4). But is it enough? 2) A major dilemma in war is the

Read More
591 Words | 3 Pages

Once the Germans omitted the inferiors from their safe haven, the superiors destroyed articles nine: freedom from containment and

Read More
544 Words | 3 Pages

Article 9 is no one should be forced to leave or be exiled. An example of this

Read More
882 Words | 4 Pages

This document conveys that the Japanese wouldn’t back down after multiple warnings, instead they were getting stronger, and therefore the atomic bombs were justified because they were given fair warnings that they did not take it

Read More
807 Words | 4 Pages

The United States invasion of Japan led to numerous casualties and severe damage yet Japan stood its ground, proving it would fight to the death. At times violence is the answer; Japan had no intention of surrendering, no matter the consequence. U.S. Secretary of war, Henry Stimson, confirms that “only the complete destruction of her military power could open the way to lasting peace”.(Document B) Each day brought great suffering, and the only logical solution to dealing with millions of suicidal soldiers was to kill off the problem. After the Japanese repeatedly refused to surrender the United States was forced to put its nuclear warfare to use and bomb both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, doing what they believed was their only

Read More
1013 Words | 5 Pages

And what the Supreme Court ruled in the landmark court case of Schenck v. the United States was reasonable and true. In the “Background Essay”, the authors mention John Locke and his philosophy the Social Contract. “...we contract to leave the ‘natural state’ and we give up certain natural rights in order to live in a safe, civil society.” That is Locke’s belief, and that is the most basic reason why restrictions are needed while countries are at war.

Read More
199 Words | 1 Pages

There was a constant debt in Japan on whether or not to accept the Potsdam Declaration. One of the major things that the Japanese wanted was for the United States to recognize Japan’s honor and existence. If the United States continued to force unconditional surrender on the Japanese then, according to the Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo, the Japanese would fight the war until the “bitter end” (Wainstock, 81). Ambassador Naotake Sato was willing to give into unconditional surrender as long as the United States preserved the imperial house (Wainstock, 82).

Read More
802 Words | 4 Pages

However when Japan broke the treaty with the invasion of Manchuria, Secretary of State Henry Stimson to notify “both the Imperial Japanese Government and the Government of the Chinese Republic that it cannot admit the legality of any situation de facto nor does it intend to recognize any treaty or agreement entered into between these two governments.” (Document D) Without the threat of war, the Americans were unable to enforce the Nine Power treaty. Furthermore, Congress passed Neutrality Acts from 1935-1937 to kepe American from being dragged into WW2. Americans agreed that they would not,”ship munitions to aid combats and that those of citizens who ship other who ship other materials to the belligerent nations must do so at their own risk and without any hope of the protection of our Government”(Document E)

Read More
1128 Words | 5 Pages

With the U.S having countless troops the North Vietnamese kept fighting even though at the end there was no hope. Without having a end goal that was easily obtainable made the war go on for as long as it did. Document 9 is talking about how we need to secure peace soon and that the north vietnamese people are waging war against us and that we are just trying to help the southern people secure freedom. This sums up the endless cycle of the war as we continue to support the south the north vietnamese kept pushing to end the war. Document 1 also supports this as it states that individual/ Personal Business cannot wage war as well as it says that those who are attacked should deserve to be attacked.

Read More
805 Words | 4 Pages

This means that Japan wasn’t under any restrictions, except that they would be completely disarmed. The terms for the Japanese Surrender gave Japan a chance to surrender, but they wanted to keep fighting, making them a threat to the

Read More
1128 Words | 5 Pages

In the previous two decades before the Sino-Japanese war, japan had been building a western-styled navy that could outperform the Chinese and Russian navies. This treaty defined he consequences of Japanese imperialism, which could now make great demands of the Qing Dynasty in order to manifest the dream of a large Japanese empire expanding into Korea and, if possible, into China. This treaty defined the “independence” of Korea from Chinese suzerainty, which was replaced by the dominance of the Japanese imperial government. However, Japan was clearly the new “suzerain” that would take the place of the Chinese empire. Korea would not serve the economic and geographical strategy for expanding Japan’s imperial presence in Asia.

Read More
1556 Words | 7 Pages

Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter states that, "all member states shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, nor in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations” . It is therefore a unilateral agreement signed by member states against the use of force when dealing each other. World events however since the signing and ratification of the UN Charter have indicated that states who are signatories to the charter continue to use force against each other for various reasons. Some 25 years after the writing and ratification of the charter one cannot doubt that states have used force and sought to justify it through individual or collective self-defence claims, as well as humanitarian claims in furtherance of national agendas and to increase territory. This no doubt may have been what frustrated Franck into the stance that Article 2(4) was in its grave.

Read More
973 Words | 4 Pages

With recent tensions rising between North Korea and the world, it is no surprise that the Japanese citizens are aligning themselves with a nationalist government. Japanese Prime Minister Abe has started to consider revoking the disarmament treaty. Revoking it would let Japan increase spending on the military, which would ultimately result in a much larger and advanced military. Although rearming the Japanese military would improve security in the country, it would only increase the tension, doing damage to not only myself, but future generations of Japanese citizens.

Read More
1178 Words | 5 Pages

In the UNSC’s article 51, individual and collective self-defense can be authorized by the UNSC under the framework of collective security. However, genocide is never justifiable in the eyes of the UN. Perhaps the most distinguishing feature between war and genocide is the disproportionally ability of those involved to fight back. Within war there is a certain level of understanding that those engaging in the conflict will have an ability to engage in battle. However, historically in genocides the effected groups have had little to no ability to proportionately fight against their attackers.

Read More
543 Words | 3 Pages

Loyalty and patriotism are the basic principles of citizenship and nations; if the loyalty of the people is lost, any nation/organization (no matter how powerful it is) has lost everything and collapsed. Without full belief and loyalty of the people of Japan in their nation, Japan would not have been able to rise again one of the world’s most technologically advanced countries of the world. Even though U.S.A citizens are of multiple descents/origins and races they all share one common principle, patriotism, which has lead to the immense success of the U.S.A. The progress of the U.S.A as a nation would have been impossible without the loyalty of its people. If the loyalty of the people toward their nation and their community is lost, there would be uncertainty among the leaders and the people, leading to lack of purpose and a halt in the progress of the

Read More

More about Article 9 Of The Constitution Essay

Related Topics

Open Document