ABSTRACT
The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent US demand that Japan contribute to the Coalition's military effort precipitated a major foreign policy debate in Japan. The Kuwait crisis precipitated the first real trial of Japan's pacific ideal as set forth in its constitution. The Japanese constitution that the American occupiers drafted and imposed upon the defeated Japanese in 1946 heralds peace as a cornerstone of post-war Japanese politics and society. Commenting on the legislative and moral standoff that had been occurring in Japan since the beginning of the Gulf War, the committee pointed to the fundamental differences between the preamble of the Japanese Constitution and Article 9. To dispatch the Self-Defense Force beyond Japan's borders, however, the Kaifu government needed to get the "United Nations Peace Cooperation" bill through parliament. The "passive" proponents of a strictly defined pacifist posture maintained that Japan's ability to wage war must never be restored.
