TOKYO, July 27 — A Japanese constitutional scholar on Sunday criticized and questioned the government’s continued military buildup and its moves to push beyond the constraints of the country’s pacifist constitution under the pretext of “defense.”
During a speech in Tokyo, Makoto Ito, director of the Japan Institute of Constitutional Law, said Japan had carried out indiscriminate bombing campaigns and military occupation in China and Southeast Asian countries, causing massive casualties.
In particular, hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians were killed in the Nanjing Massacre. Japan also forcibly recruited and exploited laborers and implemented the “comfort women” system.
Today, he said, Japan’s current three security documents aim to “make maximum use of the country’s comprehensive national power” for war, and to build a system capable of mobilizing all of the nation’s resources for war, adding that the series of reforms the Japanese government has pursued around this goal are gradually transforming Japan from a peaceful nation into a militarized state.
In an interview with reporters, Ito said the Japanese government has consistently justified its military expansion by claiming that the country is facing “the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II.”
In reality, however, he argued that it is Japan’s own continued military expansion that has been driving the deterioration of regional security. Nearly 100 people attended Ito’s lecture.
A mother surnamed Nishiyama, who came with her daughter, told reporters, “Although I did not personally experience the war, I believe we must never allow that history to repeat.”
Since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office last October, the Japanese government has accelerated a series of military expansion measures, including increasing defense spending, deploying long-range missiles, and easing restrictions on arms exports.
Earlier this month, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Japan should discuss nuclear-related policies “without taboo.” These developments have been criticized by observers as preparations for war, triggering concern both at home and abroad. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
