Prime Minister Abe Shinzo stated that he had not read elaborately the Potsdam Declaration during the debate with an opposition leader on May 20. The proclamation defining terms for Japanese surrender marked a basic course of the Asian nation after the WWII, while Premier replied with a serious look that he had not interpreted it well. He has proven that he himself is not competent enough to be Prime Minister of Japan.


ABE IS NOT QUALIFIED AS PRIME MINISTER


It is the Potsdam Declaration that made Japan surrender categorically in the WWII to end the Asia-Pacific War. Italy and Germany had already capitulated but Japan would not accept the ultimatum of the Allied Forces in order to continue the war until a final moment. The declaration enforced Japan to admit the unconditional surrender in front of the prodigious power and in fact Japan was atomic-bombed by US over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.


Liquidation of Militarism


Three leaders of US, UK and China met together in Potsdam in the suburbs of Berlin, Germany in July, 1945. The proclamation was comprised of 13 terms to oblige Japan to admit defeat with provisions that stipulated post-war processes. Firstly, the ultimatum explicitly showed the resolve of the Allied to destroy completely the Japanese leadership clinging to continuing the war and devastate the homeland.


Next the proclamation defined Japan’s capitulation as unconditional, stipulating that ‘until a new order is established and until there is convincing proof that Japan’s war-making power is destroyed’ the Japanese territory would be occupied by the Allied Forces (the United States). Concerning the territory, it limited sovereignty of Japan to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands designated in the Cairo Declaration. Other islands were to be controlled by the Allies. Incidentally, Okinawa was thus split from Japan and laid under the US military administration.


The Potsdam Declaration set forth policies to kill the Japanese militarism: punishment of war criminals, obligation of reparations, freedoms of speech, religion and thought and respect of the fundamental human rights to realize democracy.


After accepting the declaration and surrendered unconditionally, Japan has passed through democratization processes implemented by the General Headquarters of the Allied Forces. They included the International Tribunals for the Far East, enactment of Constitution, dissolution of the Zaibatsu, or financial groups, introduction of a new school education system, women’s voting right and agricultural land reform, which have contributed to building up the basis of Japanese society we see today.


The Cold War framework emerged after the war, dividing the globe in antagonism into the socialist camp headed by the Soviet Union on one hand and the capitalist camp on the other. Under these circumstances the United States began to rectify Japan’s position, which was regulated with ‘renunciation of war and prohibition of military build-up’. The Korean War was a trigger, during which the Police Reserve Force was established which later has grown up to be the Self Defense Forces of today. The US regarded Japan as a bulwark to communism and democratized the nation in parallel.


In September 1951, the two countries agreed to sign the San Francisco Peace Treaty and concluded simultaneously the US-Japan Security Treaty, which has been maintained to today.


Nation that can Wage War


Prime Minister Abe has repeatedly claimed ‘to overcome the postwar regime’ and ‘to retake Japan’ although he had not read carefully the Potsdam Declaration. He has challenged ‘definition of war of aggression’ to criticize it as ‘a self-torturing concept of history’, trying to rewrite the real history.


Along this line Premier attempts to pass a series of bills for war through the Diet so that Japan might involve in wars abroad and to damage Article Nine of the Constitution. He is far from a premier of a nation.


We, the New Socialist Party, have duties to overthrow Premier Abe, who is characterized by ignorance and violent drives, and scrap the so-called national security laws (=laws to participate in wars).




June 16, 2015