Seventy-five years ago, the Japanese Empire unleashed a devastating attack on the U.S. Navy in Pearl Harbor. The attack instigated the United States involvement in World War Two, and eventually the unconditional surrender of the Japanese.
After the Pacific Wars, Japan amended it's constitution to renounce Japan's right to maintain an armed force or participate in an active conflict (per the Treaty of San Francisco). Despite the amendment, there has been a resurgence of Japan's military prowess. As of now, the geopolitics of East Asia are shifting deadly close to Japan's jurisdiction. This includes disputes over the Senkaku and Kuril Islands with China and Russia respectively, and the evident threat of North Korea's nuclear arsenal. That said, it's clear that Japan's military resurgence stands to reason, and Japan will need to defend it's lands should conflict be imminent.
The United States has been lenient on Japan's military build up, but a full fledged military intervention on behalf of Japan seems unprecedented under the amendment. Japan has yet to intervene in an all-out conflict, such as the armed Coalition operation against the Islamic State/Daesh. We ask ourselves, should Japan be able to, on it's own initiative, enter and withdraw from conflicts and abolish the amendment preempting independent military action on Japan's behalf?
