POLITICS-JAPAN: SECURITY BILLS REFLECT GROWING INSECURITY.

by Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, May 20 (IPS/GIN) -- The expected passage of a set of bills giving the state the power to respond to a foreign military attack is causing consternation among peace activists, who worry that the stage is being set for Japan to one day renounce its Peace Constitution.

On Monday, Japan's House of Councillors, the upper house of parliament, began debating three bills that contain new definitions of situations under which Japan would be considered to be under armed attack.

This may be nothing unusual for most countries, but it is a sensitive issue in Japan, which renounced the right to wage war after World War II and whose past record of aggression has pacifists worried about giving a greater role for the military.

Under situations of armed attacks, for instance, the bills would allow the state to boost the duties of Japan's Self Defence Forces (SDF), created after Japan's defeat in World War II and designed to prevent military aggression in the future.

The discussion around the bills underlines the rising sense of insecurity in Japan, given North Korea's nuclear programme and concerns about possible military action by the United States against Pyongyang. Sentiment has also been growing in recent years that Japan should learn to look more after its own security and less on Washington.

"The U.S. victory in Iraq has ushered in a sober mood in Japan," says international relations expert Takashi Inoguchi of Tokyo University."There is the realization that Japan must gear up to meet growing U.S. conservatism affecting the world. The new laws are aimed at meeting the new challenge," he says.