Will Japan Have Two Armies, for the World and the US?

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Will Japan Have Two Armies, for the World and the US?
Osaka Nichinichi Shinbun, Japan
By Setsu Kobayashi
Translated By Hirotoshi Kimura
10 June 2014
Edited by Emily France

According to the media, in the June 3 joint session between the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan and the New Komeito Party, the Abe administration made a proposal to the effect of changing, or — dare I say — gutting the official interpretation of Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, which states that on no account must Japan "integrate" into other countries' military activity on foreign soil.

To wit, (the Abe administration) made a rash attempt to make it read that combat service support to other countries is constitutional, so long as the supplies (e.g., gasoline, water and food) and the service (e.g., transportation and medical care) of the self-defense forces are not directly employed in combat operations, even if those countries are engaged in warfare (i.e., in combat zones) at that particular moment in time.

However, with all the backlash from the New Komeito Party (though the Liberal Democratic Party's coalition partner) and the quick reaction from the media, the proposal was revised the next day on June 4, so that the self-defense forces would not be able to engage in any support operations whatsoever in combat zones, and such support would be interrupted the moment any combat flared up.

As a result, the proposal was amended, thereby making it constitutional for the self-defense forces to provide, this time, supplies and service not directly used in battle within noncombat areas.