Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Back in 1947, Washington entered Article 9 into the Japanese Constitution in order to keep the defeated and occupied enemy "on a short leash". But very soon the United States regretted it - already since the Korean War in 1950.

However, the Japanese government had already begun political maneuvers that turned the pacifist slip of the tongue into fiction, Prospect reported.

Today, a strange situation has developed in Japan: the country has a powerful army, which is theoretically prohibited by the peaceful constitution. Japan now has a quarter of a million soldiers and, following the US 7th Fleet, has the most powerful navy in Asia. In addition, it has a large modern air force and an annual defense budget of about US$50 billion, which puts it in the top ten world powers in terms of military spending.

The most radical shift in the issue of revising the 9-pacifist article occurred precisely under S. Abe in 2014. On the anniversary of the creation of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, he unilaterally proposed a revision of Article 9 that would allow the country to participate in the so-called collective self-defense. Parallel to this, the US-Japanese defense principles were revised in the international arena in the direction of expanding what Japan agreed to do militarily in support of the United States.

The paradox, which may be important for the future development of Japan, is that the country has an unequal, almost vassal relationship with the United States in matters of foreign policy and security, and, nevertheless, for all their frank nationalism, the conservatives consider the alliance an important and only option. to counter threats from the DPRK and China. S. Abe and his fellow conservatives believe that the days of pacifism are numbered, because in a world of growing threats and collapsing alliances, it has already become a luxury that Japan cannot afford.

S. Abe left behind a modest list of achievements, but from his own nationalist point of view, he leaves behind not only a country with a powerful armed forces, but also, thanks to new US-Japanese principles in the field of defense and expanded legislation, also significantly strengthens the rights of his successors to their use. In this regard, it is possible that his followers, under pressure from the United States, will nevertheless change the country’s main law.