As many readers know, there is a significant debate going on in Japan today about the government’s proposal to pass a new law that would allow for collective self-defense in the event of armed attack. This has led to protests and conflict. The issue concerns Article Nine of the Constitution, which famously prohibits the maintenance

New Developments on Japan’s Proposed Constitutional Amendment Process
–Tokujin Matsudaira, Kanagawa University Faculty of Law Recently the Asahi Shimbun Weekly (ASW, a special Monday edition of Asahi News) interviewed eight constitutional scholars and asked them to answer a survey about the possible amendment of Japan’s postwar constitution. The results appeared in ASW on April 8 (in Japanese). The eight scholars are Yasuo Hasebe