Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution

The full text of the article in Japanese:
“ 第九条　日本国民は、正義と秩序を基調とする国際平和を誠実に希求し、国権の発動たる戦争と、武力による威嚇又は武力の行使は、国際紛争を解決する手段としては、永久にこれを放棄する。

二　前項の目的を達するため、陸海空軍その他の戦力は、これを保持しない。国の交戦権は、これを認めない。
”

The official English translation of the article reads:
“ ARTICLE 9. Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. (2) To accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.”

++++++

What do you think of article 9? I've done many researches about the American occupation and the subsequent 'modernization' of the Japanese Constitution and think Article 9 is both a crazy (bad) thing and a good thing...

I mean, I'm against any kind of army that works on other than a purely defensive basis. But the Japanese were taken the right to take their own decision by a country that evaded it an placed it's own army in strategic spots (U.S. bases in Japan were used for the Vietnam war, among others). This was an act of pure colonialism and humiliation, IMHO, although I do understand that any decision concerning the Japanese army after WW2 would have been at least controversial ...

But what to think about the fact that Article 9 is now being modified by the japanese gov.? In Japan, it seems to be a very controversial topic right now (see all the very interesting articles translated on www.japanfocus.org on this subject, or even on Japantime.co.jp )...

What is your opinion?

I'm not a subject expert on this by any means, but Article 9 has been extremely controversial since the day it was written, not just lately. And largely because the Japanese cling to it like Americans cling to baseball, as part of their national identity, which clashes with the practical military standpoint.

I read a good book that included a detailed overview of how the constitution came to be, also including good info on that particular article: Embracing Defeat by John W. Dower.

(Edited for spelling)