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We, the Japanese People: Rethinking the Meaning of the Peace Constitution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

C. Douglas Lummis
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Abstract

From a political perspective, a constitution can be seen not only as a promulgation of basic law, but also as a political act: a seizure of power. Most modern constitutions in the tradition of the Magna Carta (though not those promulgated by dictators) aim to seize power from kings and/or aristocrats and place it under the limits of law. The Constitution of Japan was also such a power seizure, carried out by a short-lived alliance between The US Occupation forces and (a part of) the Japanese people. Thus it should not be surprising that the Japanese political class sees it as having been “forced on” them. That's what good constitutions do. Almost from the time it was ratified, Japanese conservatives have been trying to promote constitutional revision that would return the country to something closer to the authoritarian condition it was under during the reign of the Meiji Constitution. This is going on as this is being written, so one can only speculate how it will turn out…

Keywords

JapanconstitutionArticle 9Japan-US security treatyOkinawa
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 16 , Issue 5 , March 2018 , e2
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2018

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References

Notes

1 Nihonkoku Kenpō, (The Constitution of Japan), Tokyo: Shōgakukan Sharaku Books, 1982. 『日本国憲法』小学館：写楽ブックス、 1982.

2 Douglas Lummis (trans. Kaji Etsuko), “Radikaru Nihonkoku Kenpō”, Shisō no Kagaku, January, 1983. ダグラス ラミス、「ラデイカル日本国憲法」『思想の科学』 1983 年一月。加地悦子訳。English Original in Nihonkoku Kenpō o Yomu, (Reading the Constitution of Japan), Tokyo: Kashiwa Shobō, 1993. 『日本国憲法を読む』柏書房。

3 James Madison, Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, (Adrienne Koch, intro.) Norton: Ohio University, 1966, pp. 39, 34 and 35.

4 “Basic Initial Post-Surrender Directive”, in Jon Livingston, Joe Moore, and Felicia Oldfather, eds., The Japan Reader 2: Postwar Japan, 1945 to the Present, p. 9.

5 For a vivid (and painful) account, see Kyoko Inoue, Macarthur's Japanese Constitution: a Linguistic and Cultural Study of its Making, Chicago, University of Chicago, 1991.

6 J. L. Austin (eds. J.O. Urmson and Marina Sbisa), How To Do Things with Words, Cambridge Mass.: Harvard University, 1962.

7 In the Magna Carta (1215) the first word, and (grammatically) the Speaker, is “John.” Some other examples: English Bill of Rights (1689): “Representatives of all estates of the people.” Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776): Representatives of the people of Virginia“. US Declaration of Independence (1776): ”Representatives of the thirteen states.“ U.S. Constitution (1789): ”We the People of the United States“. U.N. Charter (1945): ”We the Peoples of the United Nations“. Republic of Korea (1948): ”We, the People of Korea“. Iraq (2005): ”We the People“. Cuba (1976/2002): ”We, Cuban Citizens“. Vietnam (1986): We, the Vietnamese People, vow …™ Republic of South Africa (1996): ”We, the people of South Africa“. Then there are some exceptions. In the Constitutions of China (1982), the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Iran, there is no speaker. In the case of the first two, perhaps Historical Materialism persuaded them that History is the speaker. In the Constitution of Thailand (2007) the speaker is the King, though he declares that the people are sovereign. Saudi Arabia has no constitution. At the command of the King, it is governed by the Basic Law found in the Koran.

8 自民党憲法改正推進本部、起草委員会，『日本国憲法改正法案』平成二十四年四月二十七日（決定）Drafting Committee, Liberal Democratic Party Constitutional Revision Headquarters, Proposed Revision of Japanese Constitution 2012.

9 The LDP draft contains many more oddities. For a more extensive discussion, see Douglas Lummis, Zōho: Kenpō wa Seifu ni taisuru Meirei de aru. Tokyo: Heibonsha Library, 2013. ダグラス ラミス『増補：憲法は政府に対する命令である』平凡社ライブラリー２０１３年。

10 For a complete (as complete as can be done from memory) account of this conversation, see Douglas Lummis, Waiting for Owls, Tokyo, Shōbunsha, 1992. ダグラス ラミス、『フクロウを待つ』晶文社、１９９２。

11 Lummis, “Radikaru Nihonkoku Kenpō”, p. 184.