Abe's LDP 'playing with fire' by attempting to amend Constitution

Tokyo's efforts to amend Japan's postwar Constitution are a serious mistake and run contrary to Japan's national interests, a veteran British diplomat warned in an op-ed article on Friday.

"Any moves at this time to start the process of amending the Constitution would be bound to arouse strong feelings, both in Japan and abroad," wrote Hugh Cortazzi in an article published in the Japan Times.

"Japan faces enough serious economic and foreign policy issues without adding the perils associated with amending the Constitution. We should all have learned by now that those who play with fire are likely to get burned," he wrote.

Cortazzi, 90, served as British ambassador to Japan from 1980 to 1984. He is also a distinguished international businessman, academic, author and prominent Japanologist.

In his op-ed article, Cortazzi justified the Japanese Constitution of 1946 as a major element in Japan's postwar demilitarization process, which laid the foundations for the development of truly democratic institutions in the country.

"The nationalist focus, however, is on Article 9, which renounces war and 'the right of belligerence of the state.' It also pledges that 'land, sea and air forces as well as other war potential, will never be maintained'," Cortazzi wrote.

"Notwithstanding Article 9, Japan has developed formidable 'self-defense' forces and has modern and effective weapons," he argued.

Tensions in East Asia would be heightened, he said, since any amendment to Article 9 would immediately arouse Chinese and Korean suspicions due to their history with Japan.

Highlighting the potential danger of the patriotism stirred by right-wing Japanese politicians, Cortazzi quoted a famous saying from 18th-century English lexicographer Samuel Johnson: "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."

Cortazzi wrote, "There is something chilling about the way in which Japanese patriotism is promoted by Japanese nationalists, some of whom seem to regard Japan's wartime military leaders as heroes rather than war criminals."

According to some experts, the international community is increasingly aware of the fundamental cause of the current tensions in East Asia, namely Tokyo's lack of reflection on its history.

Wang Xinsheng, a professor at Peking University's history department, said the planned revision of Japan's Constitution is set against the backdrop of a lack of serious reflection on its militaristic history and the trauma it caused to its neighbors.

"Japan is a very closed country, which celebrates unique values," Wang said. "It does not have a very centralized government or a properly functioning liberal political system. Abe flaunts the so-called value-oriented diplomacy, but I doubt if there are many countries in the world that share Abe's view on history."

Since taking office in December 2012, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party have pushed for amending the postwar pacifist Constitution and boosting the country's military capabilities.

In a New Year message, Abe called for a deepening of national debate "toward a revision to grasp the changing times" and predicted that the constitution "will have been revised" by 2020.

In December, Abe visited the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 Class-A war criminals among the country's war dead. The move further angered Beijing and Seoul, and disappointed Washington.