THE REINTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE 9 AND THE CHANGE IN ANTIMILITARISM: AN ANALYSIS OF JAPANESE STRATEGIC CULTURE

Abstract

In 2014, Japan’s Cabinet under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe released a new interpretation of the antimilitaristic provision of Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan. Under the new interpretation, the use of force in collective self-defence is permissible. In the following year, the National Diet acknowledged a set of security bills known as NSL as regulations regarding Japan’s new security policies, including the use of force in collective self-defence. This study aims to analyse the change in Japan’s strategic culture of antimilitarism using the case study of the reinterpretation of Article 9. In this study, the approach to strategic culture emphasises the role of institutions. Then, the strategic culture of antimilitarism is approached by breaking it down into subcultures of pacifism, anti-traditionalism, and fear of entrapment. This study found that the influential actors in the reinterpretation are Prime Minister Abe and his political party LDP, then the National Diet which was dominated by the LDP-Komeito coalition. The interpretation indicates that certain political camps gained more support in the past years. It also found that the new interpretation does not indicate that Japan is leaving antimilitarism. While the new interpretation and NSL expand the role of JSDF by adding collective self-defence, the interpretation is more or less still restrictive to the practices of the use of force.