Article 9: The Global Movement

As stated earlier, the debate over revising Article 9 is one that is near and dear to the people of Japan. However, it is also an issue that truly embodies the spirit of global peace. Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution renounces war as a means of settling international disputes and prohibits the maintenance of armed forces in Japan.

Although the Japanese government is considering amending the Article to remove the restrictions on the use of its military, the spirit of Article 9 seems to have had a global impact on various international civil society and human rights organizations. Their is a growing international movement that seems to value Article 9 as an ideal for peace, disarmament and the preservation of human rights as evidenced in the gathering of religious leaders from around the globe in December 2007 at the Asia Inter-Religious Conference on Article 9 and Peace in Asia. http://tinyurl.com/qoeshn

At this conference the Japanese Government, those within the Japanese religious circles as well as religious leaders from around the world were called on to support the preservation of Article 9 and to advance its ideal of peace around the globe in a much broader context.

The most significant thing to remember about Article 9 is that it is truly a mechanism for peace aimed to restore and preserve peace.

Also, visit the following site for more background on the Global Article 9 movement.
http://tinyurl.com/ptq2zw

I welcome your thoughts here as well.