Japanese Constitutional Revisionism and Civic Activism

Japanese Constitutional Revisionism and Civic Activism is a volume that examines the history of Japan’s constitutional debates, key legal decisions and interpretations, history and activism, and activists’ ties to party politics and fellow activists overseas.

Since the adoption of the 1947 Constitution of Japan, the document has become a contested symbol of contrasting visions of Japan. Japanese Constitutional Revisionism and Civic Activism is a volume which examines the history of Japan’s constitutional debates, key legal decisions and interpretations, the history and variety of activism, and activists’ ties to party politics and to fellow activists overseas.

Part I: Activism and Constitutional Politics

Chapter 1: Article 9 Meets Civic Activism: Reflection on the Sunagawa Case

Chapter 2: Crisis of Constitutional Democracy and the New Civic Activism in Japan: From SEALDs to Civil Alliance

Chapter 3: Popular Sovereignty, Social Movements, and Money: The Political Process in 1960 and 2014 Surrounding National Security

Chapter 4: Regarding Constitutional Revision Within and Without the National Diet

Chapter 5: Reflections on Part I

Part II: Activists for and Against Constitutional Revision, edited by Helen Hardacre

Chapter 6: New Civic Activism and Constitutional Discussion: Streets, Shrines and Cyberspace

Chapter 7: Reviving Constitutional Democracy: Gender Parity and Women’s Engagement with Politics

Chapter 8: Soka Gakkai’s Impact on Constitutional Revision Attempts

Chapter 9: Nippon Kaigi Working for Constitutional Revision

Chapter 10: Reflections on Part II

Part III: Understanding Japanese Constitutional Revision in Historical and Comparative Perspectives, edited by Franziska Seraphim

Chapter 11: Interactions between Constitutionalism and Authoritarianism in Asian Democracies: A Japan-Taiwan Comparison

Chapter 12: Peace, Land, and Bread: Constitutional Revolution in Postwar Japan and South Korea

Chapter 13: Constitutional Revision Going Astray: Article Nine and Security Policy

Chapter 14: Reflections on Part III

Part IV: Human Rights and Environmental Issues Implicated in Constitutional Revision Debates, edited by Timothy George

Chapter 15: Wartime Roots of Postwar Pacifism: Japanese Anti-War Activism in Occupied China

Chapter 16: The Irony of an Historic Preservation Movement and Its Relevance for Popular Sovereignty in Postwar Japan

Chapter 17: Everything’s Going to be Alright? An Analysis of Rights in Constitutional Amendment Proposals

Chapter 18: Reflections on Part IV