Japan's Article IX of the Peace Constitution:
Its Evolution and impact,
The end of World War II came about by Japan surrendering unconditionally to the Allied Forces. Japan knew that this would mean the end of their constitutional monarchy and a possible occupation of a foreign army. What they could not have known was that the Allied powers would rewrite their constitution and leave them with out the ability of ever amassing an army again. Article IX of the Japanese Constitution would do just that. This was the Allied way to insure that Japan would never again have the power or militaristic influence to threaten Asia or the world as they had done.
As Japan grew out of the ashes of World War II, they would become Asia's prominent allies with the Western nations in many ways. This led to a re-interruption of Japan's Article IX allowing a "Self Defense Force" which would evolve in to what it has become today. Some people view these changes to be in direct violation of the constitution. Others feel that more aggressive steeps need to be taken to advance the development of a formal military in order for Japan to become a "normal" nation so that it will no longer be a diplomatic midget that has to rely on The United States as their source of protection (Japan Echo, June 1999). The origins of Article IX, its development and the controversy stemming form this progression along with its implications are the topics that will be discussed in this paper in attempt to understand how the United States and Japan prepare for the 21st century.
The original task of drawing up Japan's new constitution was given to a government lawyer named Matsumoto Joji in October 1945 (Schaller, p.42). He and his staff drafted ma ...