Japan Press Weekly

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2026 June 24 - 30 [PEACE]

Article 9 introduced in order to dispel other countries’ suspicions of Japan’s remilitarization

The current government led by Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae is attempting to make a sham of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution and turn Japan into a war-capable nation.

However, Article 9 stands as a testament to Japan’s reflection on its past war of aggression which claimed 20 million lives in Asia and more than three million in Japan, and indicates Japan’s determination not to become a war-fighting nation again.

This was made clear in remarks made in the Diet by Yoshida Shigeru who headed the predecessor of the Liberal Democratic Party and served as prime minister at the time the postwar constitution was enacted.

At a House of Representatives plenary session of the Imperial Diet on June 26, 1946, Prime Minister Yoshida explained the provisions in the new constitution.

Explaining Article 9 which renounces war, Yoshida pointed out, “Many wars in recent years have been fought in the name of the right to self-defense. This was true of both the Manchurian Incident and the Greater East Asia War.” He said that the introduction of the anti-war provision in postwar Japan’s supreme law intends to dispel suspicions of other countries that Japan might become yet again a “warmongering nation” and that there is no guarantee that Japan would not rearm itself and become a “threat to world peace”.

In addition, at a meeting of the Lower House Committee discussing the new constitution on July 15, 1946, PM Yoshida stated that the government’s purpose in incorporating Article 9 in the new constitution was to demonstrate Japan’s determination to realize world peace by “taking the lead among nations, or even leading the world, in bringing about a peace treaty founded on a love of peace, and by taking the initiative in renouncing war and abolishing military forces.”