Abenomics is the economic policy Prime Minister Abe promised to put into action in 2012. It is based upon "three arrows" of fiscal stimulus, monetary easing and structural reforms. It was supposed to revitalize Japan’s long stagnant economy. The third “arrow” has yet to be fired and on June 20, this year, the International Money Fund essentially declared it a failure and suggested Japan raise wages.
The ruling party wants to focus all talk on the economy and the hope that Abenomics eventually will work, while the opposition parties, united by The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), are cooperating to field single candidates in areas of Japan where they have a good chance of winning—all under the banner of blocking constitutional revision.
DPJ leader Katsuya Okada has warned, “Under the Abe administration basic human rights such as freedom of speech and the public’s right to free access to information (about their government) have been threatened… the pacifism of the constitution will be destroyed.”
The LDP’s internal crackdown on mention of constitutional revision is savvy, notes Koichi Nakano, a professor and expert on Japanese politics at Sophia University. “Abenomics was simply a way of repackaging Abe’s nationalism as something sexy so he could return to power,” says Nakano. He notes public opinion is opposed by a large margin to the revision of the constitution.
“Abe is using the same tactics he did in two previous elections since 2012 to emphasize that the vote is about the economy and then proceed to do what he intended to do once the election is over. He did this with the passing of the State Secrets Laws and then with the strongly opposed Security Laws last year after the December 2014 snap elections. Perhaps he is getting advice from his deputy prime minister, who once remarked that the LDP should learn from the Nazis about how to quietly change the constitution.”
The LDP’s proposed constitution, which has been strongly influenced by Nippon Kaigi alumni, according to reports by the Asahi Shimbun and other media, would scrap Article 9, which forbids Japan from engaging in warfare as a means of settling international disputes. It would also severely curtail freedom of speech, taking away the right to speak out on issues “if it is against the public interest.”
Presumably, the government would decide what is “the public interest.”
It eliminates the words “basic human rights” from key sections, as constitutional experts have noted.
The LDP argues that revision is necessary for a modern Japan to deal with the threat of China and break free “of the post-war regime.”
The ideology behind Prime Minister Abe and his cabinet had received only modest scrutiny from Japan’s mainstream media until this May. All that changed with the publication of the surprise best seller, Nippon Kaigi No Kenkyu (Research into Japan Conference) by former white-collar worker turned journalist, Tamotsu Sugano, on April 30.
Japan’s leading constitutional expert, Setsu Kobayashi, who is also a former member of Nippon Kaigi, says of the group, “They have trouble accepting the reality that Japan lost the war” and that they wish to restore the Meiji era constitution.
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