Japan changes to allow it to increase, as well as be more open, about its military developments

Japanese anti-ballistic missile launch

Japan’s understanding of its Constitution just changed and some are concerned what they may mean:

July 3, 2014

Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, has started a process to reinterpret a critical part of the country’s constitution. The result of this reinterpretation is that it will allow the Japanese military to help friendly countries under attack, a development that has caused anxiety in East Asian countries that were once at the receiving end of Japan’s armed aggression. Not all reactions have been negative. The reinterpretation has been welcomed by Japan’s most important ally, US…
“Japan enjoyed an isolationist status until now,” says Narushige Michishita, a past adviser to Tokyo on defense and now director of the security and international program at Tokyo’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. “It was very convenient; we didn’t have to get involved in conflicts. But now the U.S. wants Japan to be more proactive,” he says. Japan’s ruling party, the LDP, acknowledge this. “They know we have to be commensurate with our stature as an economic superpower,” he adds. “The U.S. is asking us to be more proactive in, not rearming, but making use of those arms.” http://fortune.com/2013/08/05/inside-japans-invisible-army/

(CNN) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s timing was impeccable: July 1 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF)…

Abe’s Cabinet has approved a defense policy that takes a liberal view of the constitution, allowing for Japanese involvement in the defense of its allies. Previously, the SDF could only act if Japan itself was directly threatened.

Abe, speaking at a press conference Tuesday. said that the “basic idea” of the constitution “remains unchanged,” and that any involvement in military action must be taken in a “minimal way.”

He said that Japan’s security policy has evolved throughout the postwar period, and that the SDF activities in peacekeeping missions are appreciated around the world. With the reinterpretation, “Japan will contribute even more than in the past.”

With regional concerns, such as North Korea’s missile program and China’s increasing belligerence in regional territorial claims occupying the Prime Minister’s mind, he will see a more relaxed interpretation of the document as critical to maintaining Japan’s influence, both within the East Asian sphere but also internationally.

“Our peace is not something given by others,” Abe said. “We ourselves must establish peace. There is no other way.” http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/01/world/asia/japan-constitution-protests/

Japan took a historic step away from its post-war pacifism on Tuesday by ending a ban that has kept the military from fighting abroad since 1945, a victory for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe but a move that has riled China and worries many Japanese voters.

The change, the most dramatic policy shift since Japan set up its post-war armed forces 60 years ago, will widen Japan’s military options by ending the ban on exercising “collective self-defense”, or aiding a friendly country under attack…

Some voters worry about entanglement in foreign wars and others are angry at what they see as a gutting of Article 9 by ignoring formal amendment procedures. The charter has never been revised since it was adopted after Japan’s 1945 defeat.

On Sunday, a man set himself on fire near a busy Tokyo intersection – a rare form of protest in Japan – after speaking out against Abe’s re-interpretation of Article 9…

Precisely how the change might work in practice remains unclear, although it is likely to ease the path to joint military exercises with countries other than the United States. New Komeito, the junior partner in Abe’s governing coalition, says the scope of revision is limited.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/01/us-japan-defense-idUSKBN0F52S120140701

Japan wants to act like a superpower. And Japan’s leaders have now allowed it to be more aggressive militarily. The USA, which is the nation that originally had the Japanese Constitution written more restrictively has encouraged this change for some time. Notice:

August 5, 2013

On paper, Japan is a pacifist nation. It ranks 6th on the Global Peace Index, a list tabulated by peace activists at Vision of Humanity. Japan’s constitution makes illegal a traditional standing army. But a recently published defense white paper shows the extent to which the country has one of the most well-equipped “invisible” armies in the world…

“Japan enjoyed an isolationist status until now,” says Narushige Michishita, a past adviser to Tokyo on defense and now director of the security and international program at Tokyo’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. “It was very convenient; we didn’t have to get involved in conflicts. But now the U.S. wants Japan to be more proactive,” he says. Japan’s ruling party, the LDP, acknowledge this. “They know we have to be commensurate with our stature as an economic superpower,” he adds. “The U.S. is asking us to be more proactive in, not rearming, but making use of those arms.”

Japan will produce more of its weapons. It has less trust in the USA than it once had and now is going to more openly arm itself. North Korea and China will not like that. Japan took over Korea, much of China, and many of the islands in that part of the Pacific during WWII. There was a reason that the USA had earlier forced that Constitutional restriction upon Japan.

But now with the USA getting more and more in debt, the Japanese are concluding that they need to be more proactive militarily. The time will come when they will use this military in the future (cf. Daniel 11:44-45; Revelation 16:12).

I have also wondered for some time if Japan might end up with more territory, such as New Zealand (see the article Will the Anglo-Saxon Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? and/or watch the video Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves?). We will see.

Some items of possibly related interest would include the following:

Japan, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part 1: Any Witness? Where did the Japanese people come from? Have they had any witness?
Japan, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part 2: Prophecy Japan in prophecy. What is prophesied for Japan? Will God save the Japanese?
Korea in Prophecy, Any Witness? Does God have a plan for the Koreans? Is Korea mentioned in any prophecies? Will Koreans be among the first in the Kingdom of God? 한국의 언어로 : 한국 예언, 모든 증인에?
Asia in Prophecy What is Ahead for Asia? Who are the “Kings of the East”? What will happen to nearly all the Chinese, Russians, Indians, Koreans, and others of Asia? China in prophecy, where? Who has the 200,000,000 man army related to Armageddon?
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Edition for Second Obama Term This is a 160 page book for people truly interested in prophecies related to Barack Obama and the United States, including learning about many that have already been fulfilled (which the book documents in detail) and those that will be fulfilled in the future. It also has a chapter about a Republican choice. This book is available to order at www.barackobamaprophecy.com. The physical book can also be purchased at Amazon from the following link: Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States: Is Barack Obama Fulfilling Biblical, Islamic, Catholic, Kenyan, and other America-Related Prophecies? What About Republican Leaders? Second Edition for Second Obama Term.
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