Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of the Japanese party Komeito, on the discussion about the pacifist constitution, propaganda by the big coalition partner LDP and the need for new missiles.
Interviewed by
Thomas Hahn, Tokyo
As one of the aggressors, Japan was prescribed a pacifist constitution by the USA after the Second World War. In Article Nine, the country “forever renounces war as a sovereign right of the nation, and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes.” The constitution has remained unchanged to this day, with Article Nine in particular being controversial. Nationalist circles, which dominate the ruling LDP party, yearn to rewrite it. For this they need the approval of their coalition partner Komeito. He was against it so far, but seems to have relented after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Indeed? A visit to party leader Natsuo Yamaguchi, 70, at the Komeito headquarters in Tokyo.