ABSTRACT
Japan’s postwar Constitution is arguably the most widely known text of cosmopolitan orientation in the nation. This highest law of the land was promulgated in 1947 immediately after the country’s defeat in the Second World War. In particular, its Article 9 is notable for its pacifism, internationalism, universalism and, most importantly, its denial of military means of coercion, the very foundation of the modern nation state. It reads:
Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.
