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Conservative Prime Minister Shinzô ABE played big in the senatorial elections
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of July 2016. He wanted to obtain 2/3 of the seats, to remove article
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9 of the pacifist Constitution which prohibits Japan from waging war and having
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an army. To this end, ABE played to the fullest on threats from neighboring countries.
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Just today, North Korea
launched a long-range missile.
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This is unacceptable !
Faced with military provocations, nationalists demand the right to have
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a real army, defensive and offensive. This desire for rearmament is reminiscent
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of the era of imperialist Japan, which is causing Asian countries to react.
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“The coveted islands called Senkaku by the Japanese, Diaoyu by the Chinese are controlled
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by Japan. Their territory is uninhabited, it is their subsoil potentially rich in oil and
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gas which attracts the two Asian giants. » “It was enough for this Toyota built in
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Japan to be in the path of the demonstrators for hatred and resentment to be unleashed”
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When we look at the situation of Japan on the international level today,
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we realize that Japan has poor relations with most of its neighbors. He has not
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signed a peace treaty with Russia, there is still a territorial dispute with Russia
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in the North. With Korea, there are territorial disputes and a dispute over memory,
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memory, I'm not even talking about North Korea. With China, there is a
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memorial dispute and a territorial dispute. And the United States considers Japan a
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secondary power! So this means that Japan is in a difficult situation actually.
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The Japanese archipelago extends over three thousand kilometers, from the
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Kuril Islands in the north facing Russia, to Okinawa in the south, near Taiwan.
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This chain of islands forms a sort of barrier that complicates access to
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the Pacific Ocean for China, Korea and other countries. Many
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islets are as many territorial disputes which rekindle the wounds of History.
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...the rising perils in the rest of East Asia are becoming more and more of
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an increasingly serious matter amid attempts to rearmament, and finally
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nuclear armament, of North Korea on one side and the other apart from the new Chinese aggressiveness,
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particularly towards the South Seas, what we call the South Seas, that is to say the
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East China Sea and the South China Sea. And Japan is facing a new challenge
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of sorts, which is the rise of China's economic and military power.
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Turbulent neighbors, an unpredictable Trump America,
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a stagnant economy, an aging Japanese society. To these difficult problems,
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the nationalists propose a simple solution: Japan must once again have
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a powerful army and therefore modify article 9 of the pacifist Constitution!
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What is most important? The overhaul of the constitution or other issues to which
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the government pays less attention? This takes us back to the thirties and forties.
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Why is Japan continuing down this path? Why does the conservative political class
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insist so much on the need for a strong Japan?
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The desire to become a strong country was the starting point of modern Japan.
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This modernization was caused by the aggressive arrival of Western powers in the middle of the
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19th century: America, England, France, etc. It was necessary to import technical knowledge
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from abroad to catch up with Japan's civil and military industries.
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The samurai, who had just lost their warrior caste privileges,
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were therefore quickly sent on a mission to Europe to study law, medicine,
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sciences, the organization of armies and to benefit the country.
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In a very short time, Japan became a modern state,
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with the slogan "A rich state, a strong army".
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Japanese leaders wanted to avoid a decline similar to that of the Chinese empire,
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eaten away by the opium wars, humiliated and dismembered by
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Western powers. Japan is betting on modernization rather than withdrawal.
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The defeat of China was perceived by the Japanese authorities with great dismay
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it’s all the same, that is to say, they say to themselves “well, if the Chinese haven’t managed to
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resist Western pressure, how are we going to get there?” We
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are a small country compared to China. The idea that we must import Western techniques
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without losing our soul. The big difference between the Japanese system
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and other Asian systems is that the monarchies in China, Korea
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or elsewhere have been obstacles to the modernization process. However, in Japan, the monarchy,
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the real one, that is to say that of Shogun, was abolished and they created a new monarchy.
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To form a state that is recognized as a member of the club of Western countries,
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the elites took European rights as a model. In 1889, Emperor Meiji “granted”
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to his “subjects” an imperial and democratic Constitution, inspired by the Napoleonic Code.
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This new monarchy is associated both with everything that is most traditional
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in Japan and at the same time with everything that is most modern since the Emperor is
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paraded around, disguised as a sort of Western king with a uniform,
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and he will visit industrial exhibitions and inaugurate them etc. So he is both a
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character who is part of a very long-lasting tradition and who is reassuring, and at the same
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time a character who accompanies modernity. He was a sort of father of the nation in fact.
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Japan at that time was engaged in a process of unification of the country
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which was incredible. There is a sort of desire for standardization, for the uniqueness of
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the Japanese nation. We transform all these people who are peasants,
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former samurai, merchants, etc. We transform them into Japanese.
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Referring to Prussia victorious over France, the Constitution made the
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Emperor the head of the armies. So much so that the military exercised, in the name of the Emperor,
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an increasingly autonomous power which quickly escaped the control of Parliament.
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If we look at the period which opens from the Constitution of 1889,
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we have the impression that Japan is still at war since there is the war against
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China in 1894 –1895, which Japan wins, c It's a big surprise,
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people are very surprised to have defeated the great Chinese model,
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you have to see the absolutely overwhelming side of what this victory against China in 1895 is
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. The victory is received as something very positive, very liberating.
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This victory over China confirmed the successful modernization of the army. Japan
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wants to become a colonial empire, to imitate and challenge the imperialist West.
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In 1895, the archipelago colonized Taiwan and then established a protectorate in Korea in
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1905. This is the first time that an Asian country dominated people in Asia.
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Japan's colonial policy required dominated peoples to speak Japanese. She
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planned the plunder of resources and the forced conscription of workers. This brutal domination,
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lasting half a century, was not assumed by Japan.
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The neo-nationalism of Shinzô ABE today provokes the
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anger of populations who remember the abuses of the past.
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At the beginning of the 20th century, the development of transport accompanied the colonial strategy.
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To counter the British maritime monopoly,
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the Russians and French built the Trans-Siberian Railway. It connects
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Western Europe to Northern Korea and allowed the immense Russian empire to have
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access to the Chinese market. This railway feat was felt as a threat
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to the foreign concessions established in China and to the Japanese protectorate in Korea.
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At the same time, the United States set its first foothold in Asia with the annexation of
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Hawaii and the Philippines. They too wanted to enter the race to conquer
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colonial empires and they financially supported Japan to wage war against Russia.
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To everyone's surprise, Japan won its first victory against the West in 1905.
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Japan is very proud of having defeated the Russian Empire. A
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patriotic nationalism is developing, coupled with contempt and arrogance towards
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Western powers. Japanese militarism was in the making from this time.
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Here again something quite astonishing, it's not the Chinese,
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but it is still these great Western empires, these white populations in
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a strongly racialized context who fall against the Navy, since it is essentially at the time
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of the naval battle of Tsushima that it is played out and that the victory is won by the Japan.
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In 1905, Russia had to cede to Japan part of Manchuria, and the south
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of the Sakhalin and Kuril Islands, taken over by the USSR after 1945.
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On December 16, 2016, the Japan of Shinzô ABE and the Russia of Vladimir
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PUTIN attempted to bring about a peace treaty,
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never signed between the two countries since the end of the Second World War.
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What will become of the specific relations
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between Japan and the United States, and the military security treaty
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signed between you? We don't know anything about it.
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And when we try to reach an agreement
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at the negotiating table, we hope that you understand
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our concern
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about your agreement with the United States.
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As long as Japan remains the military ally of the United States, Russia will not sign peace. Territorial disputes
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between Russian and Japanese nationalists have persisted since the end of
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the war. The political solution is still far away.
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In 1918, Japan emerged victorious alongside the English,
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French and Americans. He expects to be seen by his
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Western allies as an equal who has taken his share of the fighting.
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At the start of World War I, the Shandong region of China and the Marshall Islands
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in the Pacific were in German possession. They were then placed under
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Japanese mandate. The Japanese are therefore considered the legitimate heirs to lead
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in East Asia the imperialist mission that the Western countries had begun.
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On the one hand, the United States and the world support
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Japan's imperialist projects, and on the other, they do not treat the Japanese as equals.
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There is therefore a change, or perhaps an ambivalence in the way of considering Japan.
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On the one hand, he is half accepted into the pantheon of great civilized imperialist nations, and
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on the other hand, he is not considered an equal because he is Asian. This discrimination
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irritated Japanese leaders at the end of the twenties and thirties.
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And, naturally there was something like a humiliation there, because on the one hand
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we say "there we are, we are allies, we are on the same level, we are at the winners' table,
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we have the same values", because that's it, these are questions
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of values behind it. We are not necessarily at the same level of technical,
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scientific and political development but we have the same values and on the other hand we understand that we are not.
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We do not belong to the same world, and that there is always a kind of superiority that is
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claimed by one part of the world over another. So it was a big frustration.
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The humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles was followed by two other traumas which plunged
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the country into deep doubt, conducive to military adventures.
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The earthquake of 1923 was still a shock. It’s still a moment when
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we say to ourselves “well we wanted to build a modern nation, we wanted to believe in progress. Then,
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poof. Everything is broken like a house of cards and the efforts we have made seem in vain
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. Another obviously very important event is what is happening around the crisis of
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1929 – 1930, this economic and financial crisis which severely affects the Japan and which causes it to
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stiffen up because it needs resources, because it feels vulnerable, because it has
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the impression that deep down the global economic and monetary system is completely beyond its grasp.
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In the 1920s, social movements multiplied, influenced by the
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Russian Revolution. But democratic demands are crushed under the pressure of
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ultra-nationalist soldiers who impose their ideology through murder and propaganda.
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Ultimately, the social imbalance worsened because we did not do what was
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necessary. We reached a point where the farmers only had the bark of the
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trees to feed themselves. To get out of this, there was no other choice than military expansion,
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which would lead to final destruction. This is the path that was taken.
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In 2011, Japan suffered a new disaster: the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster
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in Fukushima shook Japanese society in its moral,
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political and economic dimensions. The state has been overwhelmed. A feeling of helplessness, of doubt, but also of
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revolt and anger, took hold of the Japanese. The conservative government of Prime Minister
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Shinzô Abe was elected in 2012 to respond to this trauma. And the only answer he found
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was to reform the Constitution if he manages to win the senatorial elections!
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Even if it doesn't change anything for these elections,
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your vote will never be in vain. Even if this time the result
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is not what you hoped for,
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you should not be discouraged and you will have to go and vote
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next time. Come on, everyone together!
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The famous actor Tarô YAMAMOTO, who became a senator, engaged in politics after Fukushima, supports
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during the senatorial campaign the musician Yohei MIYAKE, an independent candidate, without a party and without
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money. They are fighting to protect and defend Article 9 which declares that: “The Japanese people
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forever renounce war or the use of force as a means of settling conflicts. »
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The Constitution has been a guarantee of peace
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for 70 years. The Constitution,
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which is the supreme law, and this is not
a question of ideology, this law which has protected
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the country for 70 years, risks being destroyed
in its very spirit, by the sole act
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of a Prime Idiot minister sitting in the chair of power.
The history of this country is the result of long years of reflection
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around the Constitution,
and it intends to sell everything out.
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Before each war,
the economy closes its floodgates. By locking down in this way,
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resentments accumulate in society.
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We tell ourselves that going to Manchuria allowed us to escape
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and that if we invade China, we might have a chance too.
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Many young people in Japan think like this.
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This is propaganda, don't be fooled.
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I think that there is indeed a return of nationalism in Japan,
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of a certain nationalism in any case but which is more a nationalism,
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let's say of concern in the face of the military rise of North Korea and especially of China,
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than a nationalism which would be, let's say, aggressive again.
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In the opposite camp, the candidate of the ruling party, Hiroshi YAMADA is a
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convinced revisionist who wants to restore a stronger nation, gathered around the Emperor.
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When I was mayor, I changed the school textbooks in my district.
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Because we had to stop giving a distorted image of History
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and distribute textbooks to children that give them pride in being born Japanese.
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We must reestablish the truth to give a new image of Japanese history
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. Japan is disgraced and covers itself with shame. He suffers unfair accusations.
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In my opinion, there are many things to change in the current constitution. If I was asked
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to change just one thing, it would certainly be Article 9 which prohibits owning an army.
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Obviously, we will not wage an invasion war. It's written in the 1st paragraph of article 9,
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we don't touch that. But to defend ourselves, we could at least have our army,
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that's indisputable. My country protects me, it is the foundation of the independence of the State. A
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Constitution that does not write this is not the Constitution of an independent country.
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For the first time, young people can vote from the age of 18
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. But participation was very low, despite the stakes of the election.
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No, I didn't vote. It does not interest me at all.
I don't understand politics.
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I'm 19. I voted for the first time.
At the polling station, there were many elderly people.
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Young people do not feel concerned.
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For me, it is the question of the reform of the Constitution..
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Economic policy and the recovery of the economy.
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I am against constitutional change.
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On July 10, 2016, the ruling party won 2/3 of the seats. He can trigger the
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procedure for amending the Constitution. Nationalist politics accelerated,
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with the adoption of new laws on arms production and the obligation to teach
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patriotism lessons at school, the first attacks on democratic institutions.
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Currently, the government is trying by all means to silence people, especially those
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who have become aware of the absurdity of the system and who want to act. Freedom
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of expression has never been so repressed. Control and surveillance are strengthened.
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Over the past 3 years, I have seen many laws passing through Parliament along these lines:
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laws on security, laws on state secrets. We find ourselves
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in a situation where there are countless security laws designed to deceive people.
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Objectively, if we look at the current situation, I think we are in a
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pre-war period. This is obvious if we compare the example of the media in the 1930s and what
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I see in the media today. We are in an almost similar situation.
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In the era of neo-liberalism, we see an obvious and definitive social division.
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The State should normally try to reestablish social cohesion but it does not succeed.
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And since he doesn't succeed, the people in power are currently resorting to cheap nationalism,
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which serves as a safety valve. But the danger is losing control at any
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moment. This is exactly what happened in pre-war Japan. »
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In the 1930s, the far right and the military led the Japanese people
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into enthusiastic imperialism supported by veneration of the Emperor. Japan, carried away
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by a totalitarian and warlike dynamic, wanted to impose its superiority on other peoples.
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Japanese imperialism, because we can speak of imperialism I think in the Far East, it is
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also based on an ideology. This ideology is called Asiago Asiatism in Japanese,
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it is the idea that Asia must revolt against white domination, essentially Anglo-Saxon,
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but also Russian which has become communist and that therefore Japan must take the lead. head
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of this great revolt of Asia and in some way free the Asian peoples from the
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colonialist tutelage of the whites. The problem is that the Asians don't understand,
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so Japan will explain to them, possibly with weapons in hand, what their interest is
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in rallying, in a way, to the Japanese flag to liberate Asia from the Western world.
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From occupied Korea, the imperial army invaded Manchuria
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in 1931, confronting the civil power with the misdeed accomplished. And Japan installed
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Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, as head of a puppet state called Manchukuo.
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Manchukuo is part of this strategy, that is to say first of all, in a certain way,
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the Japanese leaders are convinced that a unified China is their main enemy,
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not simply communist Russia, not simply the imperialist United States,
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but also a unified China.
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The Japanese had no intention of supporting the Chinese revolution. Their goal was
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to re-establish an emperor in Manchuria. They were not interested in the Chinese political system,
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they just wanted a political regime that did not bother them, a country that was favorable to them.
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It is certainly a question of cultural revenge, it is certainly a question of finding mining resources,
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natural resources to fuel the economy of the Archipelago,
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but it is also a question of bringing down this republican system which from the point from the point of view of the
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military and political elites is a threat. It is all of these three factors
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that must be kept in mind to understand this crazy enterprise from Japan to China.
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Several historians call the period from 1931 to 1945 the Fifteen
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Years' War. Even though war was not declared in 1931, or even in 1937,
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there was a series of constant quarrels between the Japanese military,
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the forces of the Kuomintang and those of the Chinese Communist Party, or even
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those of local groups. It is the continuity of what we call a cycle of violence.
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Outside of any political control, these conquests increased the massacres
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of civilians. The scale and severity of the atrocities committed by the Imperial Army
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in Nanking are denied by Japanese nationalists. Like Senator Hiroshi YAMADA,
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they are today rewriting History in school textbooks.
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From 1937, the date of the Nanking events, until 1946, newspapers around the world,
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even the biggest newspapers, even the most important media, even the Chinese government,
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never mentioned the Nanking massacre, not even once. For one year, from October 1937
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to October 1938, the Chinese government held 300 press conferences. But he never said a
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single word about the Nanking massacre. If there had been a massacre, the Chinese government should have
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declared to international authorities that the Japanese army had committed something serious.
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The Nanking massacre still remains today a fault line that
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prevents any reconciliation between China and Japan.
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In the thirties, there was the rise of Nazism in Europe, the Blitzkrieg led by the
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Germans in Poland in 1939, then across France in 1940. And suddenly, during this
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summer of 1940, the stability of the system of European colonies in East Asia changes overnight.
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Japan decided to ally itself with Hitler's Germany. The people, indoctrinated by
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anti-American propaganda, rallied around the ideology of the imperial army. In
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blind exaltation, the Japanese must now “Die for the country, die for the Emperor. »
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In December 1941, we finally reached the confrontation with the United States. The
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military leaders knew very well that they should not go there because a war with the
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United States was lost in advance. But the gears were in motion,
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we had to go. On the national level too, we could not go back either.
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As soon as it had control of Indochina, Japan understood that, if its plan worked,
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it could attack the United States. It can strike a blow against the American fleet in Hawaii, a
00:31:10
blow that would be almost fatal. Their goal is for the Americans to retreat and
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continue to let Japan rule its empire because it needs oil, rubber, and
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materials from East Asia and Manchuria. This is a colossal miscalculation.
00:31:35
After 50 years of war, Japan's sphere of economic and military domination
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expanded across East Asia. From Manchuria to Indonesia,
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from China to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Japan conquered and colonized an immense empire.
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Japan has never waged war for the survival of the regime, but here,
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in 1941, it is playing a card which is an extremely dangerous card. And he plays it anyway
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and from 1942-43 there is a sort of, I find, suicidal tendency. That is
00:32:15
to say that the issue is not to win the war, it is to die well and impress the enemy,
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which is still a strange way to wage a war. The Japanese know
00:32:27
very well that they are not going to win it from 43. Yet they continue.
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The enemy used for the first time
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a bomb of a
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particularly cruel type, of
incalculable devastating power and which caused countless
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innocent victims. Had we continued the fight,
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it would have resulted not only in the final collapse
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and annihilation of the Japanese nation,
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but also in the total destruction of civilization.
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The idea that Japan did not lose the war, or unease about it,
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has always been problematic. Especially considering how the war ended. The Emperor
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himself did not use the word “capitulation”. He said the war was over, not to mention
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defeat. The vocabulary used by the Emperor at this time is crucial for the Japanese.
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The Americans are therefore worried about what will happen when they occupy
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Japan. They have no idea what to expect. And they think that the Emperor
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represents an asset for them. That using him will allow them to maintain control,
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not only of the population, but also of the military.
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At the Tokyo Tribunal, the Japanese people were stunned to discover the war crimes
00:34:59
committed in their name by the army of their emperor Hiro Hito. During this trial,
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organized by the American occupier, the Emperor did not appear. His responsibilities in
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the war and in the collapse of the country were not mentioned.
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Neither witness nor accused, the Emperor has disappeared from History.
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Obviously, Japan cannot resolve the question of the end of the Second World War,
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its responsibility for the crimes that were committed at that time,
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of the violence that was established within the framework of colonial policy. . In
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the same way, it still has difficulty positioning itself in relation to America,
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in relation to Europe, obviously I am not talking about its positioning in relation to China.
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In 1947, a new democratic Constitution was promulgated, dictated by the Americans according
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to their geostrategic interests. Article 9 is at the heart of this
00:36:06
unique pacifist Constitution in the world. It stipulates “that land,
00:36:13
naval and air forces, or other war potential, will never be maintained . » The emperor no longer has any power.
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The United States deployed its troops in the archipelago and imposed the suppression of the
00:36:26
Japanese army. Placed under the American military umbrella, Japan was effectively deprived of the
00:36:33
freedom to pursue its own foreign policy. The overarching goal of the Occupation was to
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create an environment such that Japan could not remilitarize. It is therefore
00:36:51
not a question of short-term demilitarization, but rather of a permanent state of demilitarization.
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A protectorate. This corresponds to article 9 of the constitution.
00:37:08
In Imperialist Japan, the emperor was at the top of the state. He had to
00:37:15
protect his subjects whom he loves like his children. What kindness!
00:37:22
Lulled by this fable, it was normal in return to die for the Emperor
00:37:26
when the time came. This is what Japan was like.
00:37:32
But after the war, the story completely changed. The radical change is that now,
00:37:41
above the emperor who was at the top, there is Washington. That’s when
00:37:49
we moved to neo-imperialism. For the postwar Japanese,
00:37:56
the emperor was replaced by America.
00:38:05
So, for the Japanese, and in a very symbolic way, the United States has two faces:
00:38:10
Disneyland and military bases. We have always acted as if military occupation
00:38:15
did not exist and we preferred to install a system where we accepted and consumed
00:38:20
only the Disneyland aspect of the United States. It is the foundation of post-war Japan.
00:38:26
But there is one place that is an exception, and that is Okinawa.
00:39:13
The Okinawa archipelago is located equidistant from China, Korea and Taiwan.
00:39:19
Okinawa is very close to the Senkaku Islands, a friction point for
00:39:23
Japanese and Chinese nationalist pushes. For American military forces, Okinawa
00:39:30
is a strategic position in the region. In April 1945, American forces landed
00:39:39
on Okinawa and bombed an exhausted population. The imperial army ordered the
00:39:46
fight to continue until the end and forced the civilian population, including women and children, to commit suicide. At
00:39:54
the end of the battle: 200,000 dead. I lived in the north of the island and I
00:40:07
heard that the enemy was approaching, so I fled towards the north,
00:40:13
there, deep in the mountains... I saw a lot of dead people there- down,
00:40:23
I saw them with my own eyes. They hadn't been killed, they had committed suicide. They could
00:40:35
have survived though, like me. I believe it was because of
00:40:45
the education at school, they were students and they were indoctrinated.
00:40:53
I come from a poor family and I never went to school. I'm a
00:41:00
country girl. I wanted to live on my own, I wanted to survive.
00:41:10
The people in power say it's not right to wage war, but they
00:41:15
wage war anyway. Why ? Is it to make money? I would like
00:41:22
someone to tell me the truth, I didn't go to school, I don't understand all that.
00:41:43
Today, at the Peace Memorial, the names of those who died in the terrible battle of Okinawa are
00:41:49
inscribed side by side on black steles: civilians and soldiers, Japanese and Americans,
00:41:56
British, Koreans and Taiwanese. In 1951, the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty
00:42:06
was signed and Japan, now independent again, plays the role of American “aircraft carrier” in
00:42:12
Asia. American bombers took off from Okinawa towards Korea and Vietnam.
00:42:21
Japan benefited economically from these two wars without participating in the fighting.
00:42:29
Nearly three-quarters of the 48,000 American troops currently deployed in Japan
00:42:34
are concentrated in Okinawa on more than 20% of the island's surface area,
00:42:39
which increases the feeling among residents of being hostages to an American occupation.
00:42:50
The Japanese understand very well what Article 9 has brought them. It allowed them to concentrate
00:42:56
on the economy and give up on ensuring the defense of their country themselves.
00:43:01
It allowed them to not be involved in military actions in East Asia, such as
00:43:07
the Chinese Civil War, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. And of course, as Japan
00:43:12
supplied war materials to the United States, the war in Korea represented a boom for their
00:43:18
economy which took off from that point on. In 1954, faced with the communist threat,
00:43:27
the Americans forced the Japanese, despite their pacifist Constitution, to create a
00:43:33
defensive army, called the Self-Defense Forces. And today, when China increases
00:43:41
its military budget, Japan increases its own. Many people, including an American scientist,
00:43:52
call Japan a vassal of the United States because it allows the presence of
00:43:57
foreign military personnel on its soil. And yet, the situation is the same in Korea. But
00:44:06
with the rise of China and its more aggressive incursions into the South Sea to
00:44:13
increase its territory and influence, the situation in Okinawa is becoming delicate.
00:44:23
Without us realizing it, a system was developed around us that locked us
00:44:27
in little by little. So of course talking about the rehabilitation of Okinawa is all well and good,
00:44:33
but in fact, Article 9 of the Constitution is still not applied here. And on top of that,
00:44:40
we suffer the consequences of the secret agreements and all the secret agreements affect
00:44:44
Okinawa. We are completely prisoners of these agreements.
00:44:52
Where does the river current go?
00:44:56
And the drifting man, where is he going?
00:44:58
The current of the river will lead somewhere...
00:44:59
I wish you were blooming Like a flower
00:45:01
Whether you cry or laugh
00:45:02
One day, one day, the flower will bloom...
00:45:03
Is that normal that only the people of Okinawa are oppressed because of
00:45:07
the Japan-US Alliance and the Security Treaty? Is it normal that we
00:45:12
are the only ones to be sacrificed for the Security Treaty? I really think that all
00:45:18
Japanese people need to think about this Treaty between Japan and the United States. Either we delete it
00:45:24
or we cut off relationships. I prefer that we cut off relationships. We
00:45:29
must therefore dissolve the Security Treaty with the United States. Japan must be reborn as
00:45:35
an independent country otherwise nothing will change. Opposed to the American bases on its soil,
00:45:50
the resistance of the inhabitants of Okinawa represents the last fight of a pacifist Japan.
00:45:58
But in a tense context with China, Shinzô Abe's government is continuing
00:46:03
its military cooperation with the United States more than ever.
00:46:17
The ruling coalition won with more than two-thirds of the seats. Three days
00:46:23
later, on July 13, an event was announced on the
00:46:28
public service channel NHK's newscast at 7 p.m. It's the biggest newspaper of the day,
00:46:33
the one with the biggest audience. A few minutes before the start of the broadcast, NHK
00:46:39
broadcast a “special flash” banner: Emperor Akihito would have indicated his wish to abdicate.
00:46:55
As I am now
00:47:02
over 80 years old, and at times
00:47:26
I feel the limitations due, among other things,
00:47:27
to my physical condition, the last few years
00:47:27
have pushed me to reflect on the time I spent
00:47:28
as a than emperor. I also spent
00:47:29
a lot of time thinking about what
00:47:30
the role of the state-symbol emperor,
00:47:31
designated by the Japanese Constitution, should be.
00:47:32
In this declaration, the Emperor wishes to abdicate during his lifetime because he wants to assume
00:47:36
conscientiously the role assigned to it and which is defined in the Constitution. This
00:47:41
simply means that the Emperor wants to protect the current Constitution.
00:47:46
So we find ourselves in a sort of astonishing situation where the emperor
00:47:50
is the guarantor of democratic freedoms in a certain way and of a
00:47:57
pacifist Constitution against his own government which would like to call it into question.
00:48:02
So here, we find ourselves in a rather curious situation on the political level because
00:48:07
the Emperor is the first or even the only serious opposition figure currently in the
00:48:15
Japanese system since there is no longer any truly organized political opposition. Currently.
00:48:23
I was very impressed that the emperor said the word "symbol" so
00:48:26
often. By repeating this word “symbol”, I think he wants to alert people to the fact that today,
00:48:35
national unity is sinking into a serious crisis. It is obvious that the emperor disapproves of the fact
00:48:45
that a power like that of Shinzô Abe and his entourage is preparing to modify the Constitution.
00:49:00
The Japanese government wants a revision of the Constitution. Which means that Japan
00:49:05
could again send its armed forces abroad and the Americans would leave.
00:49:10
But this possible departure worries the Koreans and the Chinese who wonder what system
00:49:17
could then be put in place to prevent China and Japan from clashing again.
00:49:26
I have no reservations about Mr. ABE's military budget. I'm more afraid of what
00:49:31
's going on in his head. It's not the weapons that scare me, but rather why he
00:49:37
needs weapons, what they will be used for and against whom. What worries me is whether he
00:49:43
can explain the rules of the game to Japanese citizens and whether his governance is transparent.
00:49:49
There is a kind of refusal to simply take into account History,
00:49:53
the history of this region and therefore the frictions that may exist, which are
00:49:58
geostrategic frictions between China and Japan in particular. In a way,
00:50:04
I think that the Japanese Government is adding fuel to the fire by refusing to take
00:50:09
into account in some way the memorial dimension, the historical dimension and finally
00:50:14
the history of these relations between Japan and its neighbors which obviously are heavy.
00:50:20
Pushed into the tunnel of nationalism, Japan worries and irritates the
00:50:25
people of the region by its refusal to recognize History.
00:50:30
Building a common and peaceful memory is the only way for Japan
00:50:36
to reconcile with Asian countries. Under American supervision, will Japan
00:50:43
manage to find the political consciousness of its independence?
00:50:55
It is men who decide to wage war,
00:51:10
and it is they who also decide to stop it.
00:51:25
But it is not only with wishes for peace
00:51:26
that we build a peaceful world.
00:51:27
Everyone can act, and together
00:51:29
we will build a peaceful world.
00:51:30
Yes !
What we saw, heard and felt here,
00:51:31
we will never forget!
00:51:32
We will create a peaceful world
00:51:34
and spread peace to the world!
