Japanese 'War Legislation': International and Domestic Threat Assessment

AuthorBrendan Howe
Pages253-254
East Asian Observer
253
IX JEAIL 1 (2016)
EAST ASIAN OBSERVER
Japanese
War Legislation
: International
and Domestic Threat Assessment
Brendan Howe
*
The two Japanese security laws which came into force on March 29, 2016, have faced
severe domestic and international criticism. They are seen as representing a dramatic
policy change in violation of due process and international norms, and representing
a threat to international peace and security. This paper finds that while the direct
implications of the war legislation are neither threatening nor without precedent, what
the legislative process says about the nature of governance under Abe is deeply troubling.
The disdain shown by the Abe administration to due process and constitutional procedures
is what threatens domestic and international governance stability.
Keywords
Japan, Security Legislation, Threat, Legality, Governance, Peace, Article 9
1. Introduction
The Japanese National Diet passed two contentious security laws in September 2015.
Entered into force on March 29, 2016, these laws have been heralded as marking a
historic change in Japans pacifist postwar defense posture.
1
The legislation faced
stiff opposition and fierce criticism in and out of Japan. Indeed, Liu Tian of the
1 Ayako Mie, Security laws usher in new era for pacifist Japan Japan Times, Mar. 29, 2016, available at http://www.
japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/03/29/national/politics-diplomacy/japans-contentious-new-security-laws-take-effect-
paving-way-collective-self-defense/#.Vv3NgCamqmS (last visited on May 16, 2016).
Professor and Associate Dean of Graduate School of International Studies, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760
Korea. B.A./M.A.(Oxon), M.A.(U. Kent), Ph.D. (U. Dublin-Trinity). ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9603-2792.
The author may be contacted at: bmg.howe@gmail.com / Address: 1102 International Education Building, Ewha
Womans University, 52 Ewhayeodae-gil, Seodaemu-gu, Seoul 03760 Korea.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14330/jeail.2016.9.1.10

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