The Right to Collective Self-Defense and United States Forces in Japan (USFJ)

Abstract

Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution does not mention the right to self-defense, regardless of whether it is the right to individual self-defense or the right to collective self-defense. However, the Japanese Government interprets that Japan has the right to individual self-defense. As for the right to collective self-defense, the Japanese Government had interpreted until 2014 that Japan had the right to collective self-defense as a member of the United Nations, but could not exercise its right. However, in July 2014, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe changed the interpretation of Article 9 so that Japan could exercise the right to collective self-defense. This new interpretation would bring about many problems to Japan. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has put the revision of the Constitution Article 9 in its manifesto since its inception. The LDP won 291 out of 475 seats along with the Komeito, which won 35 seats, in the House of Representatives’ elections in December 2014.1 Now, the LDP together with the Komeito has more than two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives. If the LDP wins more than two-thirds of the seats in the House of Councilors’ elections in the summer of 2016, there is a strong possibility that Abe would propose the revision of the Constitution Article 9 into the Diet. This paper examines the right to collective self-defense under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s leadership and Japan’s security.