Japan military build up

[Kia]

Japan upgrades defence's status (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6182087.stm)

This is just idiotic. One of the few reasons i ever give credit to the japanese gov is because they have a semi-decent view (compared to most nations) about the military. You'd think they would have learned from WW2, but I guess the learning has come to an end.

Also the article talks about an educational bill which in my opinion is even worse then the military one.


The bill calls on teachers to instil thinking among students "respecting tradition and culture and loving the nation and homeland."



This is sickening, any form of patriotism is wrong. Again, a country like japan which has experienced the problems with nationalism during ww2 should have the brains to realize that brainwashing children with patriotism is completely WRONG.

Any thoughts?

[Whitten]

The worst is yet to come. It was clear what Japans new PM had planned when he came to power. He's a hardcore nationalist and conservative who has stated openly his belief in reviving the Imperial Japanese military power. Despite being against the US imposed constitution (one of the few good things teh US has done...), the US is likely to look the other way, as Japan's international interests and affiliations are largely the same as theirs, and they could come to be an important ally to the US in a world which starting to see the USA for the enemy that it truly is.

[Janus]

Japan's military expenditures can only be 1% of the total GDP but due to their strong economy, that's still a very significant budget. So far, they haven't challenged this limit though with the increasing "patriot teachings", expansions, and their first overseas deployment since WWII; it may only be a matter of time.

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15, 2006 06:38 pm
Japan's military expenditures can only be 1% of the total GDP but due to their strong economy, that's still a very significant budget.
Yes. In fact, Japan has long had one of the world's largest military budgets. In the same ballpark as France, Russia and China.

And they've recently begun sending soldiers abroad for the first time since WWII.

It's part of growing rivalry among all the advanced capitalist powers, though Japan's not so much at odds with Washington as some of the European governments.

[( R )evolution]

I dont get Japense news, but I assume that the president is using N. Korea as a excuse to promote these new military bills?

[Red October]

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Japan's conservative government chipped away at two pillars of the country's postwar pacifism, requiring schools to teach patriotism and upgrading the Defense Agency to a full ministry for the first time since World War II.

The measures, enacted Friday in a vote by Parliament's upper house, form key elements of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to bolster Japan's international military role, build up national pride and distance the country from its post-1945 war guilt.

The votes were important victories for Abe's government, which has suffered sharp drops in popularity polls since taking office in September over the perception that he has not paid enough attention to domestic issues.

The education reform bill triggered controversy, both because of its sensitive content and because of disclosures this week that the government had planted officials posing as ordinary citizens at "town meetings" discussing the measure.

The scandal and other issues inspired a spate of no-confidence motions against Abe and some members of his Cabinet, but they were crushed in Parliament, which is dominated by the ruling party coalition.

The upgrading of the Defense Agency under the Cabinet Office to a full ministry passed Parliament without significant opposition, propelled by deep concern in Japan over North Korean missile and nuclear weapons development.

The upgrade, to be effected early next year, gives Japan's generals greater budgetary powers and prestige -- a reversal for a military establishment that has kept a low profile since being discredited by Japan's disastrous wartime defeat.

The education measure, the first change to Japan's main education law since 1947, calls on schools to "to cultivate an attitude that respects tradition and culture, that loves the nation and home country."

The reform reflected concerns voiced by Abe and strident Education Minister Bunmei Ibuki that Japan's long stretch of economic prosperity has eroded the morals and cooperative spirit of prewar Japanese.

"The new education law will allow children to acquire a good understanding of their heritage and become intelligent and dignified Japanese," ruling party lawmaker Hiroo Nakashima said during the upper house debate.

Critics, however, attacked the move as harkening back to Japan's war-era education system, in which children were instructed to support the country's imperialist military and sacrifice themselves for the emperor and nation.

Opponents on Friday voiced fears that the changes could lead to schools grading students on their patriotic fervor -- possibly as a prelude to making Japan an aggressive nation once again.

"The government is putting the future of Japanese children at risk and turning Japan into a country that wages war abroad," said Ikuko Ishii, a Communist Party lawmaker.

The call for more patriotism in the schools coincides with a push by some local governments to crack down on teachers and students who refuse to stand for the national flag or sing an anthem to the emperor at school ceremonies.

Postwar Japan has been solidly pacifist under the 1947 U.S.-drafted Constitution, which foreswears Japan from using force to settle international disputes, and Tokyo maintains fighting forces only for self-defense. The U.S. bases some 50,000 troops in Japan under a security alliance.

what are your thoughts on this?

[Guild-soicalist]

I hope the Japanese communists party stop's this fascism!
Sure Japan needs a to be a real country again not just a U.S
satellite. But not going back to the god-damned long live the
emperor imperialist shite.

Solidarity with the anti-imperialist struggle of the Japanese communist
party! [

[Whitten]

Yes, a nuclear threat from North Korea, and teh growing power of China feature in his alarmist properganda.

[Comrade Wolfie's Very Nearly Banned Adventures]

Japan has few friends in the region.... they should be VERY careful with their new millitary

[Phalanx]

Originally posted by [email protected] 16, 2006 07:49 pm
Yes, a nuclear threat from North Korea, and teh growing power of China feature in his alarmist properganda.
Exactly. The governments of Japan and South Korea are using this as an excuse to begin an arms race. I don't think this will necessarily lead to armed confrontation, but the region will be high strung for the foreseeable future.

[Severian]

There's a thread on this already (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=60250)

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Merged.