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LDP calls for titling Emperor ‘head of state’

Kyodo

Deviating from its economic agenda, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday called for revising the Constitution to designate the Emperor as “head of state” instead of “symbol of the state” — a move that would end his figurehead status and possibly give him actual political and government-related powers.

The opposition parties Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) and Your Party backed the LDP’s call in the Lower House committee on constitutional revision, which was holding its first meeting since the LDP returned to power last December.

The three parties also agreed in principle at the meeting that Japan should be allowed to exercise its right to collective self-defense, which is limited by the war-renouncing Article 9.

The LDP, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is eager to alter the Constitution, contends the stipulation about the Emperor should be changed because “it is an undeniable fact” that the Emperor is the head of state, even though the Constitution clearly strips him of most powers enjoyed by other monarchs.

But the main opposition force, the Democratic Party of Japan, and the ruling LDP’s Buddhist-backed coalition partner, New Komeito, oppose the revision, noting the current wording, forged in the aftermath of a Shinto-inspired war in which the Emperor enjoyed divine status, did not pose any “inconvenience.”

Article 1 of the first chapter of the Constitution, which took force in May 1947, states, “The Emperor shall be the symbol of the State and the unity of the people, deriving his position from the will of the people with whom resides sovereign power.”

In its April 2012 revision proposals, the LDP used the phrase “head of state” along with “symbol of the state and the unity of the people.”

The committee began rethinking the Constitution in May 2012 but suspended talks last August after interparty squabbles broke out over the timing for dissolving the Lower House.

  • Ben

    very well said and i support calling all this “strong japan” rubbish exactly what it is – warmongering. what’s especially troubling is that these deluded individuals haven’t been thrown out by the general public for putting them all at risk just so they can build their own ill-founded pride by ratting their rusty sabers.

  • http://www.facebook.com/usman.makhdoom.378 Usman Makhdoom

    An excellent, wise move by the LDP – and one that displays backbone. Particularly to the sort of people – many commenting here – who reflexively pounce on anything nationalist move by Japan as ‘nationalistic’ and evil.

    Yet when the United States, China, and Korea display far more reckless and destructive nationalism, that gets a pass.

    Go for it, LDP. Your opponents – especially your foreign naysayers – have only ever aimed to keep Japan down.

    • DA

      But what exactly does it accomplish, other than doing the same sneaky business as its neighbors?

    • Mori Tadasu

      Is the backbone displayed for local or foreign consumption?

      I assume your reference to reckless and destructive nationalism by other countries is in regards to more recent events, such as the rioting last year in China against Japanese-owned businesses. I would agree with you in that respect; the response by most Japanese was decidedly circumspect and civilized. But I would submit that the nationalism displayed in China and Korea currently pales in comparison to that of Japan during World War 2. I am not equating these current moves to what occurred in the past, but it is not as though Japan has no history of militarism that would alarm its neighbors. I have no idea what reckless and destructive nationalism the United States has displayed recently; their military adventures overseas have barely a whiff of patriotism.

      Also, Abe et al surely cannot be blind to the fact that the balance of power in East Asia is quite different from what existed 100 years ago. Japan may reacquire the form, but is unlikely to recapture the function, of the Imperial Army of yore. Even their erstwhile allies, the United States, would be unlikely to allow a fully-formed army capable of offensive action. I must wonder aloud why US soldiers remain firmly entrenched in multiple bases throughout Japan.

  • azooisaprison4animals

    Sure – Japan needs an idiot figurehead to lead the country, because this worked out so well for them last time they tried it…..
    More accurately, the LDP, Shinzo Abe, etc. need a figurehead that they can use to turn Japan to the right, re-militarize, and bring back “the good old days”…

    I’m all for Japan building up its military – so that the U.S. military can close all bases and leave Japan for good – but the right-wingers seem to have no limits.

  • blacowsley

    I have always supported this notion. The Emperor should be afforded the same dignity as the Queen is in Britain and other countries. It was appalling the way the Americans treated this country and it’s people.

  • Roan Suda

    No one can deny that Japan has its wacko ultra-nationalists, who whitewash
    or relativize Japan’s militarist past, but they are a tiny (albeit noisy)
    minority, loathed by the vast majority of Japanese. Yet even if they were to
    disappear tomorrow, hysterical Japan-bashers would see evidence of “proto-fascism”
    every time they saw the Hinomaru or heard the national anthem. If they were
    seriously looking for totalitarian aggressors (“fascism” being the preferred claptrap cover-term
    used by the left to disguise its own collectivist sympathies), they would look
    across the sea to China and North Korea. No one is suggesting abandoning democracy
    for a return to the bad old days, but if the head of state of Europe’s monarchies
    is the king or queen, why should not the same political logic apply to this
    country?

    • blacowsley

      very rarely see the “Black Vans” any more…

  • exexalien

    Personally I think giving the emperor actual political power is a brilliant idea. Over the years the emperor and the imperial family have shown themselves to be more internationally-minded and a lot less nationalistic than Abe and his cronies or Hashimoto and the JRP.

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