Have you decided the samurai?

The Japanese government for the first time since 1945 allowed its own armed forces to fight abroad

The Government of Japan on Thursday approved the draft law, for the first time, since the end of the Second World War , allowing the country to conduct military operations abroad. This is the most significant change in Tokyo’s foreign policy for all the last decades, causing anxiety and at least half of Japanese society, where pacifist sentiments are very strong, and in neighboring countries.

Tokyo changes his defense policy against the backdrop of the expansion and growth of the military power of neighboring China , which has already responded to the decision of the Japanese Cabinet of Ministers led by Sinzo Abe with a proposal to "recall the lessons of history", while the neighboring South Korea also called on Tokyo to adhere to the spirit of the Constitution of the country. The current Constitution of Japan, which has not yet changed since 1947, prohibits the creation of any armed groups and contains the most important "article 9", which proclaims the principle of non -access to the war and armed conflicts and, as a result, refusal to create their own full -fledged army.

In fact, Japan has the Ground Forces, and the Air Force, and the Navy, called the "self-defense forces." But formally, they are one of the special types of police forces, their activity is very limited and does not even have a clear legal status. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe , speaking after the end of the office meeting, formulated the essence of the accepted bills:

Shinzo Abe during a visit to Washington. April 28, 2015

- Today, at a government meeting, we approved legislative changes in the field of defense, designed to strengthen the safety of Japan and the whole world. We need to make it clear to the world community that the bilateral American-Japanese defense alliance will be completely viable if Japan has ever been subjected to an external threat. This is an additional restraining factor that will reduce the likelihood that Japan can be attacked. Those who irresponsibly call these bills the "law on war" are fundamentally wrong. As for the problem of confrontation between the Islamic State group, we are not going to provide any support to the forces of the international coalition in Iraq and Syria. I declare this without abyss.

All the latest legislative changes approved by the Japanese government are reflected in the new American-Japanese defense initiatives published in April this year, which provides for the increase in the military role of Japan in the bilateral alliance with the United States. The new law allows you to apply the armed forces if any state that has close ties with Japan (the USA is meant by default) will be attacked. It will also allow Tokyo to provide material and technical support to foreign forces acting in accordance with the UN Charter without a special decision of the parliament for each mission. It was for this reason that Sinzo Abe in his speech separately mentioned the international operation against the Islamic State group - in February 2015, after the murder of the Japanese hostage by the Islamists , Tokyo allocated 200 million countries included in the coalition fighting with it.

The teachings of Japan's self -defense forces at the foot of the Fuji Yagura. 2010

In 1951, Tokyo signed an agreement with Washington on military cooperation and defense, according to which any attack on Japan was considered an attack on the US Armed Forces. In 1989, Japan received from the United States the status of the " main ally of the United States outside NATO." Over the past 10 years, in Japan there has been a powerful public “Article 9” association, which acts with pacifist positions and against the revival of nationalist sentiments, recalls the historian-Japanist, professor of the Institute of East Anatoly Koshkin :

- The decision of the Japanese government to approve the bill that allows the application of the armed forces abroad is directly contrary to the 9th article of the current Constitution of the country, according to which "the Japanese people in eternal times abandon the war as the sovereign right of the nation, as well as the threat or use of armed forces as a means of resolving international disputes." To date, the Constitution is current, therefore, the adoption of such a bill by the Sinzo Abe government is, by and large, its gross violation. By the way, it was under the first government of the Abe “Self -Defense Forces” that it was decided to convert to the Ministry of Defense. On the one hand, this is explained by the strengthening and increased threat of the PRC, both on land and at sea. It is also actively said about the threat from Pyongyan , namely, about the development of nuclear and missile weapons in the DPRK. On the other hand, today's decision is the result of US pressure, which remain the closest military and military-political ally of Japan. Washington - in connection, again, with the strengthening of China - pays more and more attention to the Asia -Pacific region. And he needs a strong ally in order to maintain his influence in this region.

- And how much is the probability that Japan will become a strong military player?

- Over the past 70 years, all this in Japan has been done very gradually - they will increase the contingent of the air forces, then new warships will be built ... But the militarization of the economy will be more sharply because this is one of the ways of Japan's exit from a prolonged economic recession. By the way, according to the Constitution and the legislation, Japan had no right to export weapons earlier. Two years ago, he was adopted, again, the Abe cabinet, the law that it will now be possible to trade weapons. But in all this there is a “limiter”, and this is again the United States. The United States allowed, and they will allow Japan to intensify in military terms only in a dosage - that is, to the extent that will not create a threat to the Americans themselves.

Japanese servicemen during the mission in Iraq. 2010

When Shinzo Abe does “peaceful gaskets” in his statements in his statements, when he says that this is “only in case” - all this is primarily in order to calm his own population. In Japan, pacifist sentiments are strong, many opposition parties are sharply dissatisfied with the "militaristic" course. The opposition has repeatedly stated that issues that radically affect the provisions of the Constitution can be resolved only through a popular referendum. However, the Abe cabinet, taking advantage of the majority in parliament , went on a different path. Although the Prime Minister does not even refuse the idea of holding an “All-Japanese” referendum for an official revision of the Japanese constitution, ”says Japanese professor Anatoly Koshkin .

In July 2014, when the Japanese government unveiled plans for the current changes in the country's “pacifist” Constitution, the largest Japanese information agency Kyodo Tsusin published data from the Japanese sociological survey regarding future self -defense forces. Opinions were divided almost equally: about 50 percent opposed the interpretation of the Constitution, and about 35 percent supported this decision. About 70 percent of Japanese citizens performed against the "collective defense of the allies" of the Allies, which implies military operations.