Discussions on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's proposed security legislation have brought to the fore a clear polarization of political culture in Japan. One of the trends is anti-intellectualism. The other is civic culture pushing for democratization.

Anti-intellectualism has permeated not only movements that champion nationalism and segments of the mass media, but also political circles. In the first place, the security legislation itself can be deemed as a product of anti-intellectualism. Many scholars of constitutional law and former heads of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau have declared that the legislation violates the war-renouncing Constitution.

The Abe administration has been unable to provide convincing rebuttals to their argument. Because the Self-Defense Forces are allowed to possess weapons only for the purpose of defending the nation, exercising the right to collective self-defense to defend another country is out of the question under the Constitution. In the Diet deliberations so far, Abe and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani have not answered straight on the questions raised by lawmakers but instead spent their time dodging the questions.