Regarding the story "Public split on Article 9 change" in the May 1 edition, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been deliberately fanning the "tensions" with North Korea in the hopes of frightening enough of the public that they will go along with his desire to scrap the Constitution's Article 9.
Sadly this article shows his tactics are working, helped by many other articles with liberal use of the phrases "threat" and "tensions" and the unnecessary shutdown by the Tokyo Metro subway company.
North Korea's actions are all about defending its dictatorship from hundreds of thousands of American and South Korean troops massed on its border. They have nothing to gain from attacking Japan (the U.S. bases are another story). I do not feel threatened by them. I feel threatened by Abe's fanning of the flames and by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's remarks during his recent visit seemingly setting up defense of Japan as a reason for an American attack of North Korea. It all gives a feeling of a march to war.
Dialog is the way to resolve this.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.