Quote :

" Japan rolls back pacifist pillars TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Japan's conservative government chipped away at two pillars of the country's postwar pacifism, requiring schools to teach patriotism and upgrading the Defense Agency to a full ministry for the first time since World War II. The measures, enacted Friday in a vote by Parliament's upper house, form key elements of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to bolster Japan's international military role, build up national pride and distance the country from its post-1945 war guilt. The votes were important victories for Abe's government, which has suffered sharp drops in popularity polls since taking office in September over the perception that he has not paid enough attention to domestic issues. The education reform bill triggered controversy, both because of its sensitive content and because of disclosures this week that the government had planted officials posing as ordinary citizens at "town meetings" discussing the measure. The scandal and other issues inspired a spate of no-confidence motions against Abe and some members of his Cabinet, but they were crushed in Parliament, which is dominated by the ruling party coalition. The upgrading of the Defense Agency under the Cabinet Office to a full ministry passed Parliament without significant opposition, propelled by deep concern in Japan over North Korean missile and nuclear weapons development. The upgrade, to be effected early next year, gives Japan's generals greater budgetary powers and prestige -- a reversal for a military establishment that has kept a low profile since being discredited by Japan's disastrous wartime defeat. The education measure, the first change to Japan's main education law since 1947, calls on schools to "to cultivate an attitude that respects tradition and culture, that loves the nation and home country." The reform reflected concerns voiced by Abe and strident Education Minister Bunmei Ibuki that Japan's long stretch of economic prosperity has eroded the morals and cooperative spirit of prewar Japanese. "The new education law will allow children to acquire a good understanding of their heritage and become intelligent and dignified Japanese," ruling party lawmaker Hiroo Nakashima said during the upper house debate. Critics, however, attacked the move as harkening back to Japan's war-era education system, in which children were instructed to support the country's imperialist military and sacrifice themselves for the emperor and nation. Opponents on Friday voiced fears that the changes could lead to schools grading students on their patriotic fervor -- possibly as a prelude to making Japan an aggressive nation once again. "The government is putting the future of Japanese children at risk and turning Japan into a country that wages war abroad," said Ikuko Ishii, a Communist Party lawmaker. The call for more patriotism in the schools coincides with a push by some local governments to crack down on teachers and students who refuse to stand for the national flag or sing an anthem to the emperor at school ceremonies. Postwar Japan has been solidly pacifist under the 1947 U.S.-drafted Constitution, which foreswears Japan from using force to settle international disputes, and Tokyo maintains fighting forces only for self-defense. The U.S. bases some 50,000 troops in Japan under a security alliance."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/12/15/japan.pacifist.rollback.ap/index.html

12/16/2006 12:10:27 AM

good, we need a balance to china n korea

[Edited on December 16, 2006 at 1:14 AM. Reason : .]

12/16/2006 1:13:48 AM

^ agree

12/16/2006 1:16:49 AM

You can't forget about Japan. They're always there, planning and shit.

12/16/2006 1:20:41 AM

They'll make a great ally.

12/16/2006 1:23:43 AM

Fucking dirty japs. They were worse than the Nazis in WWII.

12/16/2006 1:41:46 AM

^^

12/16/2006 1:58:53 AM

I was told by a Nat'l Sec. expert that Japan could have a nuclear weapon assembled in a matter of hours.

12/16/2006 2:48:39 AM

i seriously doubt that

[Edited on December 16, 2006 at 3:13 AM. Reason : i mean like tomorrow by noon, bam they could have one?]

12/16/2006 3:12:48 AM

^that's what I was told.

12/16/2006 3:27:04 AM

So I see Abe wants to increase textbook censorship. Guess he's prepared for the coming legal battles. If he wants a return to State Shinto, then it's his ass (and the LDP's) that's on the line.

Japan should have a right to engage militarily as the rest of the world does. I do not agree with Abe's stance on quite a few issues, however.

12/16/2006 3:55:00 AM

I am all for Japan regaining the ability to adiquitely defend itself again. Let's just hope that their religion (Shinto) doesn't get hijacked again in the name of militarism as was the case before WWII. But I don't see that happening since Emperor Akihito is no longer seen as kami.

12/16/2006 10:09:34 AM

Ninjas and superior robots will give Japan an overwhelming military advantage.

We are all doomed.

12/16/2006 10:56:07 AM

I welcome this move. Now China is paying the price for letting NK go as far as they have.

12/16/2006 11:24:20 AM

its not like the japanese defense force isn't already a very powerful military force. japan already has the 5th highest global defense budget. from what i've heard it also isn't as though they don't already censor most of WW2. i've heard that japanese texts basically portray the US as the agressor

12/16/2006 12:58:26 PM

I'm telling you guys

The countdown to Mechwarrior's has begun.

This is awesome.

12/16/2006 1:30:38 PM

This is awesome.

12/16/2006 2:12:18 PM

Quote :

"But I don't see that happening since Emperor Akihito is no longer seen as kami."

And there's really no chance he will be seen as so. You can't just suddenly reverse 60 years of him being a symbol and then suddenly want people to respect him as a true monarch.

Not to mention, Abe and his wing of the LDP are the ones closest to the ones who still deny the Nanjing Massacre and refuse to address the military comfort women issue. South Korea and China probably won't be any happier with this (yes, I meant to say SK, SK is still pretty damn pissed at Japan for their behavior when they colonized them).

12/16/2006 3:15:53 PM