Rearming Japan - Good or Bad?

Japanese prime minister pushes to end constitutional limits on the military

The article informs people that the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is pushing for a revision of the country’s post-war constitution.  The United States wrote the 1947 constitution, barring Japan from having its own armed forces, a measure designed to prevent it from ever again invading its neighbors or attacking the United States.  Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Japanese have viewed the post-war constitution as a restraint to pursuing its own imperialist ambitions. 

The question that comes to mind is, is it good or bad for Japan to begin to rearm themselves with nuclear weapons?  There are some Americans that wonder why, 70 years after World War II, the United States is still maintaining 50,000 troops at 84 bases in Japan, at great cost to the United States and with great savings to Japan.  The Obama administration has been encouraging Japan to take a more active stance.  The thought is that this will make China as well as Korea nervous.  On the other hand, the re-emergence of Japanese militarism holds great dangers for the working class in Japan and internationally.  Among an economic crisis and a growing inter-imperialist rivalry, all the major powers are preparing for war.  Let us not forget that the US and Japan fought a bloody war between 1941 and 1945 that cost millions of lives in order to determine which power would dominate China and the Asia Pacific.  While the US and Japan are currently allies, the unresolved questions of the last war continue to fester, threatening new tensions and conflict.

In the bible, there are passages that encourage peace.  “Don’t fight against the one who is working evil against you…You have been taught to love your neighbor and hate your enemy.  But I tell you this: love your enemies.  Pray for those who torment you and persecute you in doing so you become children of your Father (5:39, 43-45).”  “  Blessed are the peacemakers they will be called children of God.”  In the great debate on revising the constitution in Japan shouldn’t the question be, “is there another way?”