is a clause in the Constitution of Japan outlawing war as a means to settle international disputes involving the state. The Constitution was drafted following the surrender of Japan in World War II. It came into effect on 3 May 1947 during the occupation of Japan by the Allies, which lasted until 28 April 1952. In its text, the state formally renounces the sovereign right of belligerency and aims at an international peace based on justice and order. The article also states that, to accomplish these aims, armed forces with war potential will not be maintained. The Constitution was imposed by U.S. military occupation (Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers) to prevent rearmament of Japan in the post–World War II period. This condition was a similar prohibition placed on post-war Germany, to be overseen by the United Kingdom, after World War I. However, Germany remilitarized anyway in the decades following despite this prohibition under the Weimar Republic and later Adolf Hitler's regime. This was a leading call for the Allied mandate, and the continuing US defense agreements that would render aid in maintaining Japanese sovereignty in the event of a foreign attack.

There are the post-occupation U.S. military stationed in Japan under the U.S.–Japan Mutual Cooperation and Security Treaty and Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) which was founded in 1954 as de facto postwar Japanese military. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved a reinterpretation which gave more powers to the JSDF in 2014, which was passed by the Legislation for Peace and Security in 2015.

Text of the article The full text of the article in Japanese:

The official English translation of the article is:

Historical background The failure of the collective security of the League of Nations led to the realization that a universal system of security could only be effective if nations agreed to some limitation of their national sovereignty with regard to their right to belligerency, and if the Security Council which had been a "closed shop" during League of Nations times, would open itself up to U.N. Members who would cede constitutional powers in favor of collective security. Like the German Article 24, which was incorporated in the post-war German Constitution, and which provides for delegating or limiting sovereign powers in favor of collective security,Klaus Schlichtmann, Article Nine in Context – Limitations of National Sovereignty and the Abolition of War in Constitutional Law, The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 23-6-09, 8 June 2009 - See more at: http://japanfocus.org/-klaus-schlichtmann/3168#sthash.6iVJNGnx.dpuf Article 9 was added to the 1947 constitution during the occupation that lasted until 28 April 1952 following the defeat of Japan in the World War II.

The source of the pacifist clause is disputed. According to the Allied Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur (in statements made at a time when the U.S. was trying to get Japan to re-arm), the provision was suggested by Prime Minister Kijūrō Shidehara,Klaus Schlichtmann, Japan in the World: Shidehara Kijūrō, Pacifism and the Abolition of War, Lanham, Boulder, New York, Toronto etc., 2 vols., Lexington Books, 2009. See also, by the same author, "A Statesman for The Twenty-First Century? The Life and Diplomacy of Shidehara Kijūrō (1872–1951)", Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, fourth series, vol. 10 (1995), pp. 33–67 who "wanted it to prohibit any military establishment for Japan—any military establishment whatsoever".Douglas MacArthur, Reminiscences (1964), p. 302. Shidehara's perspective was that retention of arms would be "meaningless" for the Japanese in the post-war era, because any substandard post-war military would no longer gain the respect of the people, and would actually cause people to obsess with the subject of rearming Japan.Kijūro Shidehara, 外交の五十年 (Gaikō Gojū-Nen, "Fifty Years' Diplomacy") (1951), pp. 213-214. Shidehara admitted to his authorship in his memoirs Gaikō Gojū-Nen (Fifty Years' Diplomacy), published in 1951, where he described how the idea came to him on a train journey to Tokyo; MacArthur himself confirmed Shidehara's authorship on several occasions. However, according to some interpretations, he denied having done so,See, e.g., Robert A. Fisher, "Note: The Erosion of Japanese Pacifism: The Constitutionality of the U.S.-Japan Defense Guidelines", Cornell International Law Journal 32 (1999), p. 397. and the inclusion of Article 9 was mainly brought about by the members of the Government Section of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, especially Charles Kades, one of Douglas MacArthur's closest associates. There is, however, another theory by constitutional scholar Toshiyoshi Miyazawa, which is supported by significant evidence provided by other historians, that the idea came from MacArthur himself and that Shidehara was merely a pawn in his plans. See also, Ray Moore and Donald Robinson, Partners for Democracy: Crating the New Japanese State Under MacArthur (2002); and Koseki Shoichi, The Birth of Japan's Postwar Constitution (1997) Most recent research, however, has conclusively corroborated Shidehara's authorship.Klaus Schlichtmann, "Shidehara Kijūrō and the Japanese Constitution's war-abolishing Article 9", Japan Forum(published online 17 Sep 2021) - see https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09555803.2021.1958902

After World War II, the Japanese government began revising the Constitution. However, it initially intended only limited changes to the Constitution of the Empire of Japan, such as consolidating the Army and Navy under the single term “military” and requiring parliamentary approval for military actions.

On February 8, 1946 (Shōwa 21), the “Outline of Constitutional Revision” (the so-called Matsumoto Draft), prepared by the Constitutional Problems Investigation Committee chaired by Jōji Matsumoto, was submitted to the General Headquarters of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ).

In response, GHQ sought to ensure the renunciation of war and military forces. This objective was reflected in the “MacArthur Notes,” which set forth three guiding principles for the drafting of the new constitution. These were presented by Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur to Government Section Chief Courtney Whitney, who was responsible for preparing the draft.

The second of these principles stated:

The “GHQ Draft” (also known as the MacArthur Draft), prepared in accordance with these principles, included a provision corresponding to the present Article 9. At this stage, it was designated as Article 8.

The House of Representatives amended the Article and added "Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order," to Paragraph 1 and "In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph," to Paragraph 2. Hitoshi Ashida made this tenor. SCAP did not object to this amendment. Many scholars think the Government of Japan does not renounce the right (to have power) of self-defence because of this amendment. Hideki SHIBUTANI(渋谷秀樹)(2013) Japanese Constitutional Law. 2nd ed.(憲法 第2版) pp.70-1 Yuhikaku Publishing(有斐閣)

The article was endorsed by the Imperial Diet of Japan on 3 November 1946. Kades later made statements, like MacArthur at a time when the U.S. was trying to get Japan to rearm, that suggested he had initially rejected the proposed language that prohibited Japan's use of force "for its own security", believing that self-preservation was the right of every nation.Edward J. L. Southgate, "From Japan to Afghanistan: The U.S.-Japan Joint Security Relationship, The War on Terror and the Ignominious End of the Pacifist State?" , University of Pennsylvania Law Review 151, p. 1599. The historical record, however, casts doubt on this revisionist interpretation.See Moore and Robinson, Partners for Democracy, supra.

Interpretation

Soon after the adoption of the Constitution of Japan on 3 May 1947, the Chinese Civil War ended in victory for the Chinese Communist Party in 1949 and the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC). As a consequence, the United States was left without the Republic of China (ROC) on Mainland China as a military ally against communism in the Pacific. There was a desire on the part of the United States occupation forces for Japan to take a more active military role in the struggle against communism during the Cold War.

If Article 9 is looked upon as a motion to abolish war as an institution—as envisaged in the 1961 McCloy–Zorin Accords—then the Korean crisis was the first opportunity for another country to second the Japanese motion and embark on the transition toward a true system of collective security under the United Nations. In fact, however, in 1950, following the outbreak of the Korean War, the U.S. 24th Infantry Division was pulled out of Japan and sent to fight on the front lines in Korea, and so Japan was left without any armed protection. MacArthur ordered the creation of a 75,000-strong to maintain order in Japan and repel any possible invasion from outside. The NPR was organized by United States Army Col. Frank Kowalski (later a U.S. congressman) using Army surplus equipment. To avoid possible constitutional violations, military items were given civilian names: tanks, for instance, were named "special vehicles".James E. Auer, "Article Nine of Japan's Constitution: From Renunciation of Armed Force 'Forever' to the Third Largest Defense Budget in the World", Law and Contemporary Problems 53 (1990). Mosaburō Suzuki, a leader of the Japan Socialist Party, brought suit in the Supreme Court of Japan to have the NPR declared unconstitutional: however, his case was dismissed by the Grand Bench for lack of relevance.6 Minshu 783 (8 October 1950).

On 1 August 1952, a new was formed to supervise the NPR and its maritime component. The new agency was directly headed by Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida. Yoshida supported its constitutionality: although he stated in a 1952 Diet committee session that "to maintain war potential, even for the purpose of self-defense, [would] necessitate revision of the Constitution". He later responded to the JSP's constitutionality claims by stating that the NSF had no true war potential in the modern era. In 1954, the National Safety Agency became the Japan Defense Agency (now Ministry of Defense), and the National Police Reserve became the .

In practice, the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) are very well equipped and the maritime forces are considered to be stronger than the navies of some of Japan's neighbors. The Supreme Court of Japan has reinforced the constitutionality of armed self-defense in several major rulings, most notably the Sunakawa Case of 1959, which upheld the legality of the then-current U.S.–Japan Security Treaty.

2014 reinterpretation

In July 2014, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (coalition government of the Liberal Democratic and Komeito Party) approved a reinterpretation of Article 9. This reinterpretation allows Japan to exercise the right of "collective self-defense" in some instances and to engage in military action if one of its allies were to be attacked. The Japanese National Diet made the reinterpretation official in September 2015 by enacting a series of laws allowing the Japan Self-Defense Forces to provide material support to allies engaged in combat internationally in an "existential crisis situation" for Japan. The stated justification was that failing to defend or support an ally would weaken alliances and endanger Japan.Erik Slavin. "Japan enacts major changes to its self-defense laws" . Stars and Stripes, 18 September 2015. Accessed 26 March 2018.