By THE EDITORIAL BOARD　MAY 8, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/09/opinion/japans-pacifist-constitution.html

Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan is pushing for an expanded role for the
Japanese military that would allow it to fight alongside allies beyond
the country’s territory. He seeks to shoulder greater global security
responsibilities by what he calls proactive pacifism.

But
he faces a major hurdle. Article 9 of the Constitution, which has been
nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year, states the Japanese
people “forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation.” Mr.
Abe’s aim to change the powers of the military would require a
constitutional revision, which would mean winning two-thirds approval in
both houses of Parliament, followed by a referendum ― a very tall
order. So instead, Mr. Abe seeks to void Article 9 by having the
government reinterpret the Constitution. Such an act would completely
undermine the democratic process.

Mr.
Abe’s highest political goal is to replace the Constitution written and
imposed upon the Japanese by the American Army following World War II.
For 67 years, not a single word has been amended. Mr. Abe strongly feels
that the Constitution imposes an onerous restriction on Japanese
sovereignty and is outdated. Still, as critics point out, he should know
that the Constitution’s primary function is to check government power.
It is not something that can be altered by the whim of government.
Otherwise, there is no reason to bother with having a constitution at
all.

As
things stand, only the New Komeito Party, the junior coalition member
of the government with a deep pacifist bent, could inhibit Mr. Abe’s
ambition. Without New Komeito, the prime minister’s government loses its
majority in the upper house, so Mr. Abe is doing his utmost to come up
with a way toward a constitutional reinterpretation acceptable to New
Komeito. The other eight opposition parties are in disarray. Mr. Abe has
a strong hand, and Japan is facing a genuine test of its democracy.