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Roundtable: Constitutional Revisionism in Japan Today: Documentation and Analysis
Organizer and Chair: Franziska Seraphim, Boston College
Discussants: Helen Hardacre, Harvard University; Richard J. Samuels, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Alexis Dudden, Connecticut College; Timothy S. George, University of Rhode Island; Franziska Seraphim, Boston College; Kazuko Sakaguchi, Harvard University
Core members of the Constitutional Revision Research Group based at the Reischauer Institute, Harvard University, discuss an ongoing project analyzing, documenting, and preserving information on the current constitutional revision process in Japan. Bringing a historical perspective to bear upon current events, the project seeks to situate the contemporary process in the longer historical context of constitutionalism in Japan, and to link data collected about the current process to related historical documents.
Surveys of public opinion suggest that within five to ten years a new constitution will be approved by the parliament and put to a national referendum. The Liberal Democratic Party published a draft constitution in November 2005, and other political parties, major newspapers, economic organizations, and a variety of newly formed civic groups are actively involved. Changes proposed for the constitution itself and for related laws could significantly alter Japan’s military defense, the status of women, imperial succession, the educational system, and public corporations. Because of the potential for historic change, constitutional revision provides an ideal focus for Japanese studies as a whole.
Roundtable members discuss six aspects of the group’s research: (1) shifts in the elite power structure that condition the unprecedented viability of constitutional revisionism; (2) the impact of revisionism on Japan’s foreign relations in Asia; (3) proposed changes to the status of women and religious corporations; (3) changing patterns of civic activism in the debate; (5) related legislative changes, such as immigration laws; (6) Harvard Library’s pilot program on harvesting and preserving digital materials.