Post-war Developments
In February 1946, General Douglas MacArthur was set the task of drafting a model constitution to serve as a guide for the Japanese people. The U.S. intention was to ensure that the sources of Japanese militarism were rooted out through fundamental reforms of the Japanese government, society, and economic structure. Perhaps the most lasting effect that came out of this constitution is Article 9 that reads:
- "Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes. In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right to belligerency of the state will not be recognized."
With the renunciation of war and military power, Japan looked to the United States for security. As the Cold War began, the United States fostered a closer relationship with Japan due to the latter's strategic location in respect to the USSR. Japan became, as stated by the Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" for the United States. Ensuing from this close relationship with the United States, Japan hoped that in time their country would become the "third leg in a triangle involving two superpowers." The seventies witnessed Japan's adoption of three fundamental tenets that would seek to define and direct Japanese internationalism, all concerning the need for Japanese initiatives in fostering a liberal internationalism. Japanese economic progress after World War II undermined the appeal of pre-war militarist nationalism, showing a path to prosperity was possible without colonies.
Today, Japanese nationalism is perceived by some to be on the rise. Some lawmakers in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) seek to revise the constitution with the focus on Article 9. Another example are two history textbooks, one in 2001, another in 2005 that downplay Japan's role in World War II.(see Japanese history textbook controversies). Though the textbooks are marginalized and not widely used, they have been used as a flashpoint for Chinese and South Korean sensibilities. The 1998 legal adoption of the national anthem and flag as state symbols (some believe them to be symbolic of Japanese nationalism during World War II) and previous Prime Minister Koizumi's six visits to the Yasukuni Shrine have also been viewed by some as an increase of nationalism. )
Read more about this topic: Japanese Nationalism
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