Chapter Nine
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Exercising the right to collective defense
Based on reflections on the past, Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution
prohibits possession of all kind of weapons by the Army, Navy, Air Force,
and other military branches. The Constitution also renounces war as a
means to resolve international disputes and denies the right of belligerency
of the state. In general, under Article 51 of the Charter of the United
Nations, a sovereign state is perceived to possess the right to both
individual and collective defense.^12 Actually, the PRC exercised this right
during the Korean War to defend the DPRK. Likewise, the Republic of
Korea (ROK) invoked the right to help its ally, the United States, during
the Vietnam War. Yet, according to the official standpoint of the Japanese
government, enforcing the right to collective defense is a violation of the
Constitution, although exercising the right to individual defense and
possession of defensive capabilities is not denied by the Constitution.
According to the interpretation of the Constitution, on the one hand,
Japan refrains voluntarily from possession of weapons with offensive
character like ICBMs, strategic bombers, attack aircraft carriers, and
strategic submarines with SLBM etc. On the other hand, Japan has the Self
Defense Forces (Ground, Maritime, and Air Self-Defence forces) which
are limited to the minimum level required for self-defense under Article 9
of the Constitution. In other words, Japan has maintained an exclusively
defense-oriented policy as a national virtue.
Japan, which limits its possession of assault capability, signed a
security treaty with the United States of America in 1951. The treaty was
amended as the "Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the
United States and Japan (Japan-U.S. Security Treaty)" in 1960. Since then,
the security treaty has been automatically renewed every ten years.
According to the treaty, America provides armed forces including
conventional attack capabilities and a nuclear umbrella. In return, Japan is
not obliged to defend the U.S.A., but it provides not only military bases,
facilities, and areas for U.S. Forces in Japan, but also funds the stationing
of American soldiers in Japan through host nation support (HNS).
According to the current official standpoint of the Japanese
government, if U.S. naval vessels are attacked by an adversary while they
run side-by-side on the high sea outside of Japanese territorial waters,
(^12) According to Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, “Nothing in the
present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-
defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until
the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace
and security.”