Save Article 9,
the "peace clause" of the Japanese Constitution

The Japanese Catholic Bishops’ Council for Justice and Peace (which affiliated last year w/Pax Christi International) has asked Pax Christi USA for our support of their efforts to preserve Article 9 (the “peace clause”) of the Japanese Constitution, which asserts that “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation.” This rare example of a political commitment to nonviolence is under threat of being dismantled, in large part due to U.S. plans to engage Japan as a key military partner in the U.S. “war on terror,” which would have grave consequences for destabilizing the Asia-Pacific region and fueling a new arms race in the region.

In April 2007, the Japanese Prime Minister is due to visit the U.S. The Japanese Bishops' Catholic Council for Justice and Peace is growing alarmed at their government’s efforts to prohibit dissent in-country over the next several weeks prior to the Japanese government’s move to call for a national referendum to change the constitution.

Pax Christi USA hosted members of the Japanese Bishops' Catholic Council for Justice and Peace (see article links below) at our July 2006 conference in Pittsburgh, PA and again in March 2007 in Washington, DC, when we facilitated several days of meetings with the Archbishop of Nagasaki, Most Reverend Mitsuaki Takami, and Sister Filo Hirota, MMB, president of the Japanese Leadership Conference of Women Religious, to build religious and Congressional support.

We ask all Pax Christi members and friends to respond to their call for our support. Links to an Action Alert, as well as other informational pieces, are available below.

Hiroshima-Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Poster Exhibitions in the USA

Letter of solidarity to the Japanese people on Japan's Constitution Day, May 3, 2007

April 26 Press Release on action outside the White House during meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Abe and President Bush

April 26 Organizational Sign-on Letter delivered to Japanese Embassy in DC

Action alert to Save Article 9!

Background information

A plea from the Japanese bishops to save Article 9

Press release from the March 9th Event at Georgetown University with the Most Reverend Mitsuaki Takami, Archbishop of Nagasaki and Sr. Filo Hirota, President of the Japanese Leadership Conference of Women Religious

Speech given at Georgetown University, March 12, 2007 by the Archbishop of Nagasaki, the Most Reverend Joseph S. Takami, SS

Speech by Bishop Michael Goro Matsuura, Bishop of Hiroshima, Japan, special guest at the Pax Christi USA National Conference, July 2007

Article from Fr. Jim Kofski, MM, "Article 9 of Japanese constitution at risk"