The original text of the Constitution of Japan (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Shortly after the end of the Gulf War in the early 1990s, a U.S. daily ran a letter from a Japanese senior high school student living in the city of Kochi. In it, the youth explained that Japan does not send its Self-Defense Forces abroad because of war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution.
That was three decades ago. When I learned about this letter recently, I thought about its author and wondered what he would say about Japan’s security policy today that is undergoing a major transformation. I decided to go to Kochi.
His alma mater, Tosajuku Senior High School, stood atop a hill at the end of a steep, winding path.
Takeshi Shimauchi, 62, a teacher, said the letter is “still being talked about” but the student who wrote it was no longer alive. He went into medicine after high school but died prematurely about 10 years ago.
What really surprised me was that his letter elicited more than 100 responses from Americans.
I was shown a booklet that chronicled this amazing reaction. “I wish the United States had a pacifist Constitution, too,” one person wrote. Another asked, “Please teach me more about Japanese politics.”
I was deeply moved that so many American youths wanted to correspond with their Japanese counterpart to seek peace together.
An American high school student in suburban Chicago wrote to the effect, “What really matters is not the ability to start war, but the ability to avert war.” This is a timeless observation that’s definitely true today.
On my flight back to Tokyo, I thought about the recent rapid growth of Japan’s defense budget and the precarious state of the traditional “defense only” principle. But the latest Diet deliberations on these issues were hopelessly superficial because the government already had all the answers.
The Pacific Ocean below looked white and hazy.
--The Asahi Shimbun, July 15
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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.