Constitutional change may be a matter of when, not if
observingjapan.substack.com
May 3 is Japan’s Constitution Memorial Day, which commemorates the enactment of the postwar constitution in 1947 – and I am beginning to think that a groundswell in favor of constitutional change might be building. I have generally been skeptical about the prospects for revising the postwar constitution on any meaningful timeline. It’s not because I think that a majority of Japanese are committed pacifists; if that was ever true, it has certainly become less true over time. What I think has been true is that whatever Japanese voters have felt about the constitution, constitutional revision has consistently been identified as the lowest policy priority for the public when asked. It was precisely this lack of urgency about revision that made it unlikely that Abe Shinzō, who has zealously pursued revision for his entire political career, would succeed at navigating constitutional changes through the
Constitutional change may be a matter of when, not if
Constitutional change may be a matter of…
Constitutional change may be a matter of when, not if
May 3 is Japan’s Constitution Memorial Day, which commemorates the enactment of the postwar constitution in 1947 – and I am beginning to think that a groundswell in favor of constitutional change might be building. I have generally been skeptical about the prospects for revising the postwar constitution on any meaningful timeline. It’s not because I think that a majority of Japanese are committed pacifists; if that was ever true, it has certainly become less true over time. What I think has been true is that whatever Japanese voters have felt about the constitution, constitutional revision has consistently been identified as the lowest policy priority for the public when asked. It was precisely this lack of urgency about revision that made it unlikely that Abe Shinzō, who has zealously pursued revision for his entire political career, would succeed at navigating constitutional changes through the