Occupation and the postwar constitution
Under US occupation, Japan adopts a new constitution that makes the emperor a symbol, gives women the vote and, in Article 9, renounces war.
- Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II — John W. Dower, W. W. Norton (1999)
- The Constitution of Japan — Government of Japan, Prime Minister's Office of Japan (1946)
- A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present — Andrew Gordon, Oxford University Press (2003)
- Japan in Transformation, 1945–2010 (2nd edition) — Jeff Kingston, Pearson (2011)
General Douglas MacArthur’s occupation set out to demilitarise and democratise Japan. Women voted for the first time in 1946. Land reform broke up landlord estates, the giant zaibatsu conglomerates were partly dismantled, labour unions were legalised, and wartime leaders were tried at the Tokyo tribunal (1946–48), where seven were hanged. The emperor was not tried, a decision still debated.
- Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II — John W. Dower, W. W. Norton (1999)
- A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present — Andrew Gordon, Oxford University Press (2003)
When a Japanese draft constitution proved too conservative, MacArthur’s staff wrote one themselves in February 1946. Passed by the Diet, it took effect on 3 May 1947. The emperor became “the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people”. Article 9 states that “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation”.
- The Constitution of Japan — Government of Japan, Prime Minister's Office of Japan (1946)
- Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II — John W. Dower, W. W. Norton (1999)
With the Cold War, US priorities shifted. A National Police Reserve set up in 1950 became the Self-Defense Forces in 1954. The San Francisco Peace Treaty and a US security treaty ended the occupation in April 1952, but Okinawa stayed under US rule until 1972, and most US bases in Japan are still there.
- A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present — Andrew Gordon, Oxford University Press (2003)
- Japan in Transformation, 1945–2010 (2nd edition) — Jeff Kingston, Pearson (2011)
Whatever its origins, Japanese people embraced it; Article 9 has kept Japan out of war for eight decades and should be protected.
- Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II — John W. Dower, W. W. Norton (1999)
- Japan in Transformation, 1945–2010 (2nd edition) — Jeff Kingston, Pearson (2011)
The constitution was drafted by American officials in about a week and imposed on a defeated country. A normal nation should be able to defend itself and its allies, especially facing China and North Korea.
- Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II — John W. Dower, W. W. Norton (1999)
- Japan in Transformation, 1945–2010 (2nd edition) — Jeff Kingston, Pearson (2011)
Why it matters today
The constitution has never been amended. Whether to revise Article 9, and how far the Self-Defense Forces should go, is the longest-running debate in Japanese politics. Many Japanese see the pacifist constitution as the core of their postwar identity; conservatives call it an imposed document.