one of the most important aims of the Occupation was undoubtedly the complete
disarmament and demilitarization of Japan. This was necessary not only for the
United States, but also for neighboring Asian countries, since Japan had always
justified invasions as acts of self-defense.
Although there was some difference of opinion among Japanese politicians as to
whether the renunciation of war as a sovereign right extended even to self-defense
under Section 1 , it was apparent that the Government at least took the position that
Japan could not have armed forces even for the purpose of self-defense under
Section 2. The majority of Japanese people welcomed Article 9 since there was a
strong antipathy against armies among the people and they thought that the
disasters of the past had occurred as a result of governmental action.
Interpreted literally, Article 9 precludes the nation from maintaining military
forces of any kind. “Despite its original intent, since the 1950 s, the interpretation of
Article 9 was transformed from absolute prohibition to something else”
10
and the
so-called “Peace Constitution” was interpreted to allow for the development
and maintenance of a quasi-military force. The government could not maintain
the original position that armed forces, even for self-defense, were not permitted
under Article 9.
While the chief goal of the Occupation had been the complete disarmament
of Japan, the United States had been forced to change its position shortly after the
outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. As General MacArthur was forced to transfer
armed forces to Korea, he requested that the Japanese government establish the
National Police Reserve (NPR). According to the executive order, the function of
the NPR was limited to the task of policing, but its actual aim was to take the first
step in the rearmament of Japan. After Japan concluded a security treaty with
the United States in 1952 , the Japanese government decided to transform the NPR
into the National Safety Force, and finally established the Self-Defense Forces
(SDF) in 1954.
As the United States put pressure on Japan to update her security arrangements
and share a larger portion of the cost of her defense, the scope and strength of the
SDF was expanded. Today, the SDF is a formidable force even by international
standards. In fact, the SDF has the third-largest defense budget in the world.^11
Canon Pence points out that “the SDF is now more active internationally than ever
before. In addition to a 1992 peacekeeping mission in Cambodia and logistical
support for the UN in the Golan Heights, the SDF has recently engaged in large-
scale operations in the Middle East.”
12
(^10) Robert A. Fisher, “The erosion of Japanese pacifism: the constitutionality of the 1997 U.S.–
Japan Defense Guideline” ( 1999 ) 32 Cornell International Law Journal 393 at 408.
(^11) Van Hoften, “Declaring war on the Japanese Constitution,” p. 296.
(^12) Canon Pence, “Reform in the Rising Sun: Koizumi’s bid to revise Japan’s pacifist
Constitution” ( 2006 ) 32 North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial
Regulation 335 at 368.