Complete Fall 2019 CJAL Issue 1 COLUMBIA JOURNAL OF ASIAN LAW VOLUME 33 FALL 2019 NUMBER 1 SYMPOSIUM CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN JAPAN: PROSPECTS, PROCESS, AND IMPLICATIONS INTRODUCTION Nobuhisa Ishizuka Japan’s constitution has remained unchanged for over 70 years since its adoption. With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s re-election as the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) in 2018, the issue of constitutional revision has gained renewed attention. On March 13, 2019 the Center for Japanese Legal Studies at Columbia Law School co-hosted, with the Council on Foreign Relations, a full-day conference on “Constitutional Reform in Japan: Prospect, Process, and Implications.” Three panels of distinguished experts examined the domestic political landscape in Japan, provided comparative legal perspectives, and considered the political, strategic, and social implications of proposed changes. The following articles are an outgrowth of papers presented at the conference. The intention of the conference was not to advocate for a specific position—pro or con—on constitutional amendment. Rather, it was designed to provide a forum for a diverse group of political scientists, historians, legal scholars, and former government officials to discuss the issues surrounding the constitutional reform debate in Japan from multiple perspectives. The intent of the conference was to select certain aspects of the debate that seemed particularly informative to understanding the current political dynamics within Japan and present new perspectives important to understanding its context, which would be of professional interest to broader observers of the current environment in Asia. In the first article “Constitutional Reform in Japan”, I provide an overall context for the amendment debate, tracing its development from 2 COLUMBIA JOURNAL OF ASIAN LAW [Vol. 33:1 the promulgation of the Japanese constitution during the Allied Occupation through its evolution during the Cold War and post-Cold War periods. I describe how, through a combination of legislative action, bureaucratic interpretation and judicial deference, the plain text of the document has been adapted to social, political and strategic requirements, and the resulting interpretative tensions arising from such process. Carol Gluck follows with “Japan’s Constitution across Time and Space,” providing a historian’s perspective on the Japanese constitution, placing its origins in the context of late 19th century and post-World War II constitutional movements in the West. She describes the widespread popular acceptance of the document in Japan and its gradual adaptation to changing social and political circumstances through a process of informal incremental change, such that by the time popular consensus for change emerges it already will have been achieved in fact, without need for the disruptive effects of contentious political debates. In the third article “Rhetoric and Realism: Debating the Early Contours of Japan’s Military Power,” Sheila Smith explores the history and background of ongoing legislative debates in the Japanese Diet on constitutional interpretation, in particular the disarmament clause of Article 9 – the “Peace Clause.” She illustrates how the debates shaped, within the bounds of the seemingly plain language of the provision, Japan’s political responses to an increasingly and continuously changing international security environment. Finally, Hideshi Tokuchi builds on the descriptions of the foregoing processes of constitutional interpretation and adaptation with an analysis of their practical effects on Japan’s policymaking, strategic and security choices, including the implications of constitutional amendment on the U.S.-Japan alliance and its potential impact on civil- military relations in Japan. In “Implications of Revision of Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan on the Defense Policy of Japan,” he sets forth an argument for the necessity and advisability of textual and interpretative clarity from the perspective of a former senior policy official with direct experience with the operational constraints imposed by the ongoing constitutional debates. Other topics discussed in depth during the conference included: x The prospects for passing constitutional amendments in light of requirements imposed by the legislative and popular referendum process 2019] CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN JAPAN: INTRODUCTION 3 x The importance of constitutional reform to Japanese voters and the effect of LDP- and opposition-supported proposals on such views x The determinants of amendment preferences among the Japanese people x The role of religious movements, political lobbies—and the effect of their convergence—on the revision debate Audio links to the full panel discussions and keynote speech are available on the website of the Columbia Law School’s Center for Japanese Legal Studies at: https://jls.law.columbia.edu/content/constitutional-reform-japan- conference Participants of the conference were: Rosalind Dixon Professor of Law University of New South Wales, Faculty of Law Carol Gluck George Sansom Professor of History Columbia University Menaka Guruswamy BR Ambedkar Research Scholar and Lecturer Columbia Law School Helen Hardacre Reischauer Institute Professor of Japanese Religions and Society Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations Harvard University Takako Hikotani Gerald L. Curtis Associate Professor of Modern Japanese Politics and Foreign Policy Columbia University Nobuhisa Ishizuka Lecturer in Law and Executive Director, Center for Japanese Legal Studies 4 COLUMBIA JOURNAL OF ASIAN LAW [Vol. 33:1 Columbia Law School Jeongchul Kim Professor of Constitutional Law Yonsei University School of Law President, Korean Society for Media Law, Ethics and Policy Research Kenneth McElwain Associate Professor of Political Science, Institute of Social Science University of Tokyo Daniel M. Smith Associate Professor, Department of Government Harvard University Sheila A. Smith Senior Fellow for Japan Studies Council on Foreign Relations Hideshi Tokuchi Visiting Professor, International Security Studies and Senior Fellow, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) Visiting Professor, National Defense Academy of Japan