Japon, la tentation nationaliste – Remilitarisation du Japon – Documentaire Monde – AT

Au lendemain de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le Japon doit rompre avec sa politique militariste et s’achemine vers une démocratie pacifiste garantie par la Constitution.
👋 + de documentaires histoire 👉 http://bit.ly/3lqyFpY 🙏 Abonnez vous !

Pourtant, un peu plus de soixante-dix ans plus tard, la conclusion d’un accord de paix avec la Russie se heurte toujours au différend sur les îles Kouriles, revendiquées par l’archipel nippon. Dans la ligne de mire d’une Corée du Nord nucléarisée, et sous le feu des critiques de Séoul qui lui reproche un demi-siècle de colonisation, le pays entretient en outre des relations tendues avec son puissant voisin chinois, sur fond de lutte pour le contrôle des voies maritimes.

Parallèlement, la résistance d’Okinawa au projet de construction de nouvelles bases militaires américaines a contribué à durcir les rapports entre Tokyo et Washington. Plébiscitant un pouvoir fort depuis la catastrophe de Fukushima, qui a mis en lumière de graves dysfonctionnements au sommet de l’État, les électeurs japonais ont donné au parti libéral-démocrate de Shinzo Abe deux tiers des sièges au Sénat, ouvrant la voie à une possible révision de la Constitution.

Japon, la tentation nationaliste
Réalisateur: Kenichi Watanabe
Producteurs : ARTE France, Kami Productions, Crescendo Films
©ARTE – 2017

Conservative Prime Minister Shinzô ABE played big in the senatorial elections of July 2016. He wanted to obtain 2/3 of the seats, to remove article 9 of the pacifist Constitution which prohibits Japan from waging war and having an army. To this end, ABE played to the fullest on threats from neighboring countries.

Just today, North Korea launched a long-range missile. This is unacceptable ! Faced with military provocations, nationalists demand the right to have a real army, defensive and offensive. This desire for rearmament is reminiscent of the era of imperialist Japan, which is causing Asian countries to react.

“The coveted islands called Senkaku by the Japanese, Diaoyu by the Chinese are controlled by Japan. Their territory is uninhabited, it is their subsoil potentially rich in oil and gas which attracts the two Asian giants. » “It was enough for this Toyota built in

Japan to be in the path of the demonstrators for hatred and resentment to be unleashed” When we look at the situation of Japan on the international level today, we realize that Japan has poor relations with most of its neighbors. He has not

Signed a peace treaty with Russia, there is still a territorial dispute with Russia in the North. With Korea, there are territorial disputes and a dispute over memory, memory, I’m not even talking about North Korea. With China, there is a memorial dispute and a territorial dispute. And the United States considers Japan a

Secondary power! So this means that Japan is in a difficult situation actually. The Japanese archipelago extends over three thousand kilometers, from the Kuril Islands in the north facing Russia, to Okinawa in the south, near Taiwan. This chain of islands forms a sort of barrier that complicates access to

The Pacific Ocean for China, Korea and other countries. Many islets are as many territorial disputes which rekindle the wounds of History. …the rising perils in the rest of East Asia are becoming more and more of an increasingly serious matter amid attempts to rearmament, and finally

Nuclear armament, of North Korea on one side and the other apart from the new Chinese aggressiveness, particularly towards the South Seas, what we call the South Seas, that is to say the East China Sea and the South China Sea. And Japan is facing a new challenge

Of sorts, which is the rise of China’s economic and military power. Turbulent neighbors, an unpredictable Trump America, a stagnant economy, an aging Japanese society. To these difficult problems, the nationalists propose a simple solution: Japan must once again have a powerful army and therefore modify article 9 of the pacifist Constitution!

What is most important? The overhaul of the constitution or other issues to which the government pays less attention? This takes us back to the thirties and forties. Why is Japan continuing down this path? Why does the conservative political class insist so much on the need for a strong Japan?

The desire to become a strong country was the starting point of modern Japan. This modernization was caused by the aggressive arrival of Western powers in the middle of the 19th century: America, England, France, etc. It was necessary to import technical knowledge from abroad to catch up with Japan’s civil and military industries.

The samurai, who had just lost their warrior caste privileges, were therefore quickly sent on a mission to Europe to study law, medicine, sciences, the organization of armies and to benefit the country. In a very short time, Japan became a modern state, with the slogan “A rich state, a strong army”.

Japanese leaders wanted to avoid a decline similar to that of the Chinese empire, eaten away by the opium wars, humiliated and dismembered by Western powers. Japan is betting on modernization rather than withdrawal. The defeat of China was perceived by the Japanese authorities with great dismay

It’s all the same, that is to say, they say to themselves “well, if the Chinese haven’t managed to resist Western pressure, how are we going to get there?” We are a small country compared to China. The idea that we must import Western techniques

Without losing our soul. The big difference between the Japanese system and other Asian systems is that the monarchies in China, Korea or elsewhere have been obstacles to the modernization process. However, in Japan, the monarchy, the real one, that is to say that of Shogun, was abolished and they created a new monarchy.

To form a state that is recognized as a member of the club of Western countries, the elites took European rights as a model. In 1889, Emperor Meiji “granted” to his “subjects” an imperial and democratic Constitution, inspired by the Napoleonic Code. This new monarchy is associated both with everything that is most traditional

In Japan and at the same time with everything that is most modern since the Emperor is paraded around, disguised as a sort of Western king with a uniform, and he will visit industrial exhibitions and inaugurate them etc. So he is both a

Character who is part of a very long-lasting tradition and who is reassuring, and at the same time a character who accompanies modernity. He was a sort of father of the nation in fact. Japan at that time was engaged in a process of unification of the country

Which was incredible. There is a sort of desire for standardization, for the uniqueness of the Japanese nation. We transform all these people who are peasants, former samurai, merchants, etc. We transform them into Japanese. Referring to Prussia victorious over France, the Constitution made the

Emperor the head of the armies. So much so that the military exercised, in the name of the Emperor, an increasingly autonomous power which quickly escaped the control of Parliament. If we look at the period which opens from the Constitution of 1889,

We have the impression that Japan is still at war since there is the war against China in 1894 –1895, which Japan wins, c It’s a big surprise, people are very surprised to have defeated the great Chinese model,

You have to see the absolutely overwhelming side of what this victory against China in 1895 is . The victory is received as something very positive, very liberating. This victory over China confirmed the successful modernization of the army. Japan wants to become a colonial empire, to imitate and challenge the imperialist West.

In 1895, the archipelago colonized Taiwan and then established a protectorate in Korea in 1905. This is the first time that an Asian country dominated people in Asia. Japan’s colonial policy required dominated peoples to speak Japanese. She planned the plunder of resources and the forced conscription of workers. This brutal domination,

Lasting half a century, was not assumed by Japan. The neo-nationalism of Shinzô ABE today provokes the anger of populations who remember the abuses of the past. At the beginning of the 20th century, the development of transport accompanied the colonial strategy. To counter the British maritime monopoly,

The Russians and French built the Trans-Siberian Railway. It connects Western Europe to Northern Korea and allowed the immense Russian empire to have access to the Chinese market. This railway feat was felt as a threat to the foreign concessions established in China and to the Japanese protectorate in Korea.

At the same time, the United States set its first foothold in Asia with the annexation of Hawaii and the Philippines. They too wanted to enter the race to conquer colonial empires and they financially supported Japan to wage war against Russia. To everyone’s surprise, Japan won its first victory against the West in 1905.

Japan is very proud of having defeated the Russian Empire. A patriotic nationalism is developing, coupled with contempt and arrogance towards Western powers. Japanese militarism was in the making from this time. Here again something quite astonishing, it’s not the Chinese, but it is still these great Western empires, these white populations in

A strongly racialized context who fall against the Navy, since it is essentially at the time of the naval battle of Tsushima that it is played out and that the victory is won by the Japan. In 1905, Russia had to cede to Japan part of Manchuria, and the south

Of the Sakhalin and Kuril Islands, taken over by the USSR after 1945. On December 16, 2016, the Japan of Shinzô ABE and the Russia of Vladimir PUTIN attempted to bring about a peace treaty, never signed between the two countries since the end of the Second World War.

What will become of the specific relations between Japan and the United States, and the military security treaty signed between you? We don’t know anything about it. And when we try to reach an agreement at the negotiating table, we hope that you understand our concern about your agreement with the United States.

As long as Japan remains the military ally of the United States, Russia will not sign peace. Territorial disputes between Russian and Japanese nationalists have persisted since the end of the war. The political solution is still far away. In 1918, Japan emerged victorious alongside the English,

French and Americans. He expects to be seen by his Western allies as an equal who has taken his share of the fighting. At the start of World War I, the Shandong region of China and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific were in German possession. They were then placed under

Japanese mandate. The Japanese are therefore considered the legitimate heirs to lead in East Asia the imperialist mission that the Western countries had begun. On the one hand, the United States and the world support Japan’s imperialist projects, and on the other, they do not treat the Japanese as equals.

There is therefore a change, or perhaps an ambivalence in the way of considering Japan. On the one hand, he is half accepted into the pantheon of great civilized imperialist nations, and on the other hand, he is not considered an equal because he is Asian. This discrimination

Irritated Japanese leaders at the end of the twenties and thirties. And, naturally there was something like a humiliation there, because on the one hand we say “there we are, we are allies, we are on the same level, we are at the winners’ table,

We have the same values”, because that’s it, these are questions of values ​​behind it. We are not necessarily at the same level of technical, scientific and political development but we have the same values ​​and on the other hand we understand that we are not.

We do not belong to the same world, and that there is always a kind of superiority that is claimed by one part of the world over another. So it was a big frustration. The humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles was followed by two other traumas which plunged

The country into deep doubt, conducive to military adventures. The earthquake of 1923 was still a shock. It’s still a moment when we say to ourselves “well we wanted to build a modern nation, we wanted to believe in progress. Then,

Poof. Everything is broken like a house of cards and the efforts we have made seem in vain . Another obviously very important event is what is happening around the crisis of 1929 – 1930, this economic and financial crisis which severely affects the Japan and which causes it to

Stiffen up because it needs resources, because it feels vulnerable, because it has the impression that deep down the global economic and monetary system is completely beyond its grasp. In the 1920s, social movements multiplied, influenced by the Russian Revolution. But democratic demands are crushed under the pressure of

Ultra-nationalist soldiers who impose their ideology through murder and propaganda. Ultimately, the social imbalance worsened because we did not do what was necessary. We reached a point where the farmers only had the bark of the trees to feed themselves. To get out of this, there was no other choice than military expansion,

Which would lead to final destruction. This is the path that was taken. In 2011, Japan suffered a new disaster: the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Fukushima shook Japanese society in its moral, political and economic dimensions. The state has been overwhelmed. A feeling of helplessness, of doubt, but also of

Revolt and anger, took hold of the Japanese. The conservative government of Prime Minister Shinzô Abe was elected in 2012 to respond to this trauma. And the only answer he found was to reform the Constitution if he manages to win the senatorial elections! Even if it doesn’t change anything for these elections,

Your vote will never be in vain. Even if this time the result is not what you hoped for, you should not be discouraged and you will have to go and vote next time. Come on, everyone together! The famous actor Tarô YAMAMOTO, who became a senator, engaged in politics after Fukushima, supports

During the senatorial campaign the musician Yohei MIYAKE, an independent candidate, without a party and without money. They are fighting to protect and defend Article 9 which declares that: “The Japanese people forever renounce war or the use of force as a means of settling conflicts. » The Constitution has been a guarantee of peace

For 70 years. The Constitution, which is the supreme law, and this is not a question of ideology, this law which has protected the country for 70 years, risks being destroyed in its very spirit, by the sole act

Of a Prime Idiot minister sitting in the chair of power. The history of this country is the result of long years of reflection around the Constitution, and it intends to sell everything out. Before each war, the economy closes its floodgates. By locking down in this way, resentments accumulate in society.

We tell ourselves that going to Manchuria allowed us to escape and that if we invade China, we might have a chance too. Many young people in Japan think like this. This is propaganda, don’t be fooled. I think that there is indeed a return of nationalism in Japan,

Of a certain nationalism in any case but which is more a nationalism, let’s say of concern in the face of the military rise of North Korea and especially of China, than a nationalism which would be, let’s say, aggressive again. In the opposite camp, the candidate of the ruling party, Hiroshi YAMADA is a

Convinced revisionist who wants to restore a stronger nation, gathered around the Emperor. When I was mayor, I changed the school textbooks in my district. Because we had to stop giving a distorted image of History and distribute textbooks to children that give them pride in being born Japanese.

We must reestablish the truth to give a new image of Japanese history . Japan is disgraced and covers itself with shame. He suffers unfair accusations. In my opinion, there are many things to change in the current constitution. If I was asked

To change just one thing, it would certainly be Article 9 which prohibits owning an army. Obviously, we will not wage an invasion war. It’s written in the 1st paragraph of article 9, we don’t touch that. But to defend ourselves, we could at least have our army,

That’s indisputable. My country protects me, it is the foundation of the independence of the State. A Constitution that does not write this is not the Constitution of an independent country. For the first time, young people can vote from the age of 18

. But participation was very low, despite the stakes of the election. No, I didn’t vote. It does not interest me at all. I don’t understand politics. I’m 19. I voted for the first time. At the polling station, there were many elderly people. Young people do not feel concerned.

For me, it is the question of the reform of the Constitution.. Economic policy and the recovery of the economy. I am against constitutional change. On July 10, 2016, the ruling party won 2/3 of the seats. He can trigger the procedure for amending the Constitution. Nationalist politics accelerated,

With the adoption of new laws on arms production and the obligation to teach patriotism lessons at school, the first attacks on democratic institutions. Currently, the government is trying by all means to silence people, especially those who have become aware of the absurdity of the system and who want to act. Freedom

Of expression has never been so repressed. Control and surveillance are strengthened. Over the past 3 years, I have seen many laws passing through Parliament along these lines: laws on security, laws on state secrets. We find ourselves in a situation where there are countless security laws designed to deceive people.

Objectively, if we look at the current situation, I think we are in a pre-war period. This is obvious if we compare the example of the media in the 1930s and what I see in the media today. We are in an almost similar situation.

In the era of neo-liberalism, we see an obvious and definitive social division. The State should normally try to reestablish social cohesion but it does not succeed. And since he doesn’t succeed, the people in power are currently resorting to cheap nationalism,

Which serves as a safety valve. But the danger is losing control at any moment. This is exactly what happened in pre-war Japan. » In the 1930s, the far right and the military led the Japanese people into enthusiastic imperialism supported by veneration of the Emperor. Japan, carried away

By a totalitarian and warlike dynamic, wanted to impose its superiority on other peoples. Japanese imperialism, because we can speak of imperialism I think in the Far East, it is also based on an ideology. This ideology is called Asiago Asiatism in Japanese,

It is the idea that Asia must revolt against white domination, essentially Anglo-Saxon, but also Russian which has become communist and that therefore Japan must take the lead. head of this great revolt of Asia and in some way free the Asian peoples from the

Colonialist tutelage of the whites. The problem is that the Asians don’t understand, so Japan will explain to them, possibly with weapons in hand, what their interest is in rallying, in a way, to the Japanese flag to liberate Asia from the Western world. From occupied Korea, the imperial army invaded Manchuria

In 1931, confronting the civil power with the misdeed accomplished. And Japan installed Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, as head of a puppet state called Manchukuo. Manchukuo is part of this strategy, that is to say first of all, in a certain way,

The Japanese leaders are convinced that a unified China is their main enemy, not simply communist Russia, not simply the imperialist United States, but also a unified China. The Japanese had no intention of supporting the Chinese revolution. Their goal was

To re-establish an emperor in Manchuria. They were not interested in the Chinese political system, they just wanted a political regime that did not bother them, a country that was favorable to them. It is certainly a question of cultural revenge, it is certainly a question of finding mining resources,

Natural resources to fuel the economy of the Archipelago, but it is also a question of bringing down this republican system which from the point from the point of view of the military and political elites is a threat. It is all of these three factors

That must be kept in mind to understand this crazy enterprise from Japan to China. Several historians call the period from 1931 to 1945 the Fifteen Years’ War. Even though war was not declared in 1931, or even in 1937, there was a series of constant quarrels between the Japanese military,

The forces of the Kuomintang and those of the Chinese Communist Party, or even those of local groups. It is the continuity of what we call a cycle of violence. Outside of any political control, these conquests increased the massacres of civilians. The scale and severity of the atrocities committed by the Imperial Army

In Nanking are denied by Japanese nationalists. Like Senator Hiroshi YAMADA, they are today rewriting History in school textbooks. From 1937, the date of the Nanking events, until 1946, newspapers around the world, even the biggest newspapers, even the most important media, even the Chinese government,

Never mentioned the Nanking massacre, not even once. For one year, from October 1937 to October 1938, the Chinese government held 300 press conferences. But he never said a single word about the Nanking massacre. If there had been a massacre, the Chinese government should have

Declared to international authorities that the Japanese army had committed something serious. The Nanking massacre still remains today a fault line that prevents any reconciliation between China and Japan. In the thirties, there was the rise of Nazism in Europe, the Blitzkrieg led by the

Germans in Poland in 1939, then across France in 1940. And suddenly, during this summer of 1940, the stability of the system of European colonies in East Asia changes overnight. Japan decided to ally itself with Hitler’s Germany. The people, indoctrinated by anti-American propaganda, rallied around the ideology of the imperial army. In

Blind exaltation, the Japanese must now “Die for the country, die for the Emperor. » In December 1941, we finally reached the confrontation with the United States. The military leaders knew very well that they should not go there because a war with the

United States was lost in advance. But the gears were in motion, we had to go. On the national level too, we could not go back either. As soon as it had control of Indochina, Japan understood that, if its plan worked,

It could attack the United States. It can strike a blow against the American fleet in Hawaii, a blow that would be almost fatal. Their goal is for the Americans to retreat and continue to let Japan rule its empire because it needs oil, rubber, and

Materials from East Asia and Manchuria. This is a colossal miscalculation. After 50 years of war, Japan’s sphere of economic and military domination expanded across East Asia. From Manchuria to Indonesia, from China to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Japan conquered and colonized an immense empire.

Japan has never waged war for the survival of the regime, but here, in 1941, it is playing a card which is an extremely dangerous card. And he plays it anyway and from 1942-43 there is a sort of, I find, suicidal tendency. That is

To say that the issue is not to win the war, it is to die well and impress the enemy, which is still a strange way to wage a war. The Japanese know very well that they are not going to win it from 43. Yet they continue. The enemy used for the first time

A bomb of a particularly cruel type, of incalculable devastating power and which caused countless innocent victims. Had we continued the fight, it would have resulted not only in the final collapse and annihilation of the Japanese nation, but also in the total destruction of civilization.

The idea that Japan did not lose the war, or unease about it, has always been problematic. Especially considering how the war ended. The Emperor himself did not use the word “capitulation”. He said the war was over, not to mention

Defeat. The vocabulary used by the Emperor at this time is crucial for the Japanese. The Americans are therefore worried about what will happen when they occupy Japan. They have no idea what to expect. And they think that the Emperor represents an asset for them. That using him will allow them to maintain control,

Not only of the population, but also of the military. At the Tokyo Tribunal, the Japanese people were stunned to discover the war crimes committed in their name by the army of their emperor Hiro Hito. During this trial, organized by the American occupier, the Emperor did not appear. His responsibilities in

The war and in the collapse of the country were not mentioned. Neither witness nor accused, the Emperor has disappeared from History. Obviously, Japan cannot resolve the question of the end of the Second World War, its responsibility for the crimes that were committed at that time,

Of the violence that was established within the framework of colonial policy. . In the same way, it still has difficulty positioning itself in relation to America, in relation to Europe, obviously I am not talking about its positioning in relation to China.

In 1947, a new democratic Constitution was promulgated, dictated by the Americans according to their geostrategic interests. Article 9 is at the heart of this unique pacifist Constitution in the world. It stipulates “that land,

Naval and air forces, or other war potential, will never be maintained . » The emperor no longer has any power. The United States deployed its troops in the archipelago and imposed the suppression of the Japanese army. Placed under the American military umbrella, Japan was effectively deprived of the

Freedom to pursue its own foreign policy. The overarching goal of the Occupation was to create an environment such that Japan could not remilitarize. It is therefore not a question of short-term demilitarization, but rather of a permanent state of demilitarization. A protectorate. This corresponds to article 9 of the constitution.

In Imperialist Japan, the emperor was at the top of the state. He had to protect his subjects whom he loves like his children. What kindness! Lulled by this fable, it was normal in return to die for the Emperor when the time came. This is what Japan was like.

But after the war, the story completely changed. The radical change is that now, above the emperor who was at the top, there is Washington. That’s when we moved to neo-imperialism. For the postwar Japanese, the emperor was replaced by America.

So, for the Japanese, and in a very symbolic way, the United States has two faces: Disneyland and military bases. We have always acted as if military occupation did not exist and we preferred to install a system where we accepted and consumed

Only the Disneyland aspect of the United States. It is the foundation of post-war Japan. But there is one place that is an exception, and that is Okinawa. The Okinawa archipelago is located equidistant from China, Korea and Taiwan. Okinawa is very close to the Senkaku Islands, a friction point for

Japanese and Chinese nationalist pushes. For American military forces, Okinawa is a strategic position in the region. In April 1945, American forces landed on Okinawa and bombed an exhausted population. The imperial army ordered the fight to continue until the end and forced the civilian population, including women and children, to commit suicide. At

The end of the battle: 200,000 dead. I lived in the north of the island and I heard that the enemy was approaching, so I fled towards the north, there, deep in the mountains… I saw a lot of dead people there- down,

I saw them with my own eyes. They hadn’t been killed, they had committed suicide. They could have survived though, like me. I believe it was because of the education at school, they were students and they were indoctrinated. I come from a poor family and I never went to school. I’m a

Country girl. I wanted to live on my own, I wanted to survive. The people in power say it’s not right to wage war, but they wage war anyway. Why ? Is it to make money? I would like someone to tell me the truth, I didn’t go to school, I don’t understand all that.

Today, at the Peace Memorial, the names of those who died in the terrible battle of Okinawa are inscribed side by side on black steles: civilians and soldiers, Japanese and Americans, British, Koreans and Taiwanese. In 1951, the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty

Was signed and Japan, now independent again, plays the role of American “aircraft carrier” in Asia. American bombers took off from Okinawa towards Korea and Vietnam. Japan benefited economically from these two wars without participating in the fighting. Nearly three-quarters of the 48,000 American troops currently deployed in Japan

Are concentrated in Okinawa on more than 20% of the island’s surface area, which increases the feeling among residents of being hostages to an American occupation. The Japanese understand very well what Article 9 has brought them. It allowed them to concentrate

On the economy and give up on ensuring the defense of their country themselves. It allowed them to not be involved in military actions in East Asia, such as the Chinese Civil War, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. And of course, as Japan

Supplied war materials to the United States, the war in Korea represented a boom for their economy which took off from that point on. In 1954, faced with the communist threat, the Americans forced the Japanese, despite their pacifist Constitution, to create a defensive army, called the Self-Defense Forces. And today, when China increases

Its military budget, Japan increases its own. Many people, including an American scientist, call Japan a vassal of the United States because it allows the presence of foreign military personnel on its soil. And yet, the situation is the same in Korea. But

With the rise of China and its more aggressive incursions into the South Sea to increase its territory and influence, the situation in Okinawa is becoming delicate. Without us realizing it, a system was developed around us that locked us

In little by little. So of course talking about the rehabilitation of Okinawa is all well and good, but in fact, Article 9 of the Constitution is still not applied here. And on top of that, we suffer the consequences of the secret agreements and all the secret agreements affect

Okinawa. We are completely prisoners of these agreements. Where does the river current go? And the drifting man, where is he going? The current of the river will lead somewhere… I wish you were blooming Like a flower Whether you cry or laugh One day, one day, the flower will bloom…

Is that normal that only the people of Okinawa are oppressed because of the Japan-US Alliance and the Security Treaty? Is it normal that we are the only ones to be sacrificed for the Security Treaty? I really think that all

Japanese people need to think about this Treaty between Japan and the United States. Either we delete it or we cut off relationships. I prefer that we cut off relationships. We must therefore dissolve the Security Treaty with the United States. Japan must be reborn as

An independent country otherwise nothing will change. Opposed to the American bases on its soil, the resistance of the inhabitants of Okinawa represents the last fight of a pacifist Japan. But in a tense context with China, Shinzô Abe’s government is continuing its military cooperation with the United States more than ever.

The ruling coalition won with more than two-thirds of the seats. Three days later, on July 13, an event was announced on the public service channel NHK’s newscast at 7 p.m. It’s the biggest newspaper of the day, the one with the biggest audience. A few minutes before the start of the broadcast, NHK

Broadcast a “special flash” banner: Emperor Akihito would have indicated his wish to abdicate. As I am now over 80 years old, and at times I feel the limitations due, among other things, to my physical condition, the last few years have pushed me to reflect on the time I spent

As a than emperor. I also spent a lot of time thinking about what the role of the state-symbol emperor, designated by the Japanese Constitution, should be. In this declaration, the Emperor wishes to abdicate during his lifetime because he wants to assume

Conscientiously the role assigned to it and which is defined in the Constitution. This simply means that the Emperor wants to protect the current Constitution. So we find ourselves in a sort of astonishing situation where the emperor is the guarantor of democratic freedoms in a certain way and of a

Pacifist Constitution against his own government which would like to call it into question. So here, we find ourselves in a rather curious situation on the political level because the Emperor is the first or even the only serious opposition figure currently in the

Japanese system since there is no longer any truly organized political opposition. Currently. I was very impressed that the emperor said the word “symbol” so often. By repeating this word “symbol”, I think he wants to alert people to the fact that today,

National unity is sinking into a serious crisis. It is obvious that the emperor disapproves of the fact that a power like that of Shinzô Abe and his entourage is preparing to modify the Constitution. The Japanese government wants a revision of the Constitution. Which means that Japan

Could again send its armed forces abroad and the Americans would leave. But this possible departure worries the Koreans and the Chinese who wonder what system could then be put in place to prevent China and Japan from clashing again. I have no reservations about Mr. ABE’s military budget. I’m more afraid of what

‘s going on in his head. It’s not the weapons that scare me, but rather why he needs weapons, what they will be used for and against whom. What worries me is whether he can explain the rules of the game to Japanese citizens and whether his governance is transparent.

There is a kind of refusal to simply take into account History, the history of this region and therefore the frictions that may exist, which are geostrategic frictions between China and Japan in particular. In a way, I think that the Japanese Government is adding fuel to the fire by refusing to take

Into account in some way the memorial dimension, the historical dimension and finally the history of these relations between Japan and its neighbors which obviously are heavy. Pushed into the tunnel of nationalism, Japan worries and irritates the people of the region by its refusal to recognize History.

Building a common and peaceful memory is the only way for Japan to reconcile with Asian countries. Under American supervision, will Japan manage to find the political consciousness of its independence? It is men who decide to wage war, and it is they who also decide to stop it.

But it is not only with wishes for peace that we build a peaceful world. Everyone can act, and together we will build a peaceful world. Yes ! What we saw, heard and felt here, we will never forget! We will create a peaceful world and spread peace to the world!