LDP: “Japan Must Introduce Conscription!”

The LDP is said to be plotting to introduce conscription to Japan, along with the necessary constitutional amendments to allow it.

The LDP is reportedly considering introducing general conscription to Japan based on a “civic duty” rubric, as used in Germany and elsewhere:

“It is necessary to further consider the matter of the people’s connection to the army and the meaning of obligating military service in a democratic nation.”

Direct mention of conscription is avoided in favour of opaque euphemism.

Japan’s military is massively constrained by the US authored pacifist constitution the nation has had since being crushed in World War II; indeed the nation technically has no army at all.

A constitutional amendment would be required to introduce conscription, which requires a national referendum amongst other legal and legislative hurdles – the LDP has long been interested in passing such an amendment, and apparently intends to announce an amendment plan in May.

Leaving aside the illiberal nature of a government enforcing military service, or how profoundly unpopular such a policy would be, the practical aspects of such a policy seem ill thought out at best – modern militaries demand highly trained and motivated specialists, usually associated with professional career soldiers.

Additionally, flooding Japan’s tiny military with school leavers would likely do nothing but exacerbate the pension time bomb Japan is singularly failing to defuse – spending money to delay young people’s entry into the labour market through unproductive trench digging and further disrupting their ability to form families with banishment to barracks seem unlikely to help.

Such questions are however academic – it seems actually getting such an amendment past the Japanese public in a vote would be challenging at the very least, and the chances of a party actually getting into power with such a policy seems even more remote.

2ch is unsparing:

Impossible!

You’ll never get that kind of thing through!

What’s the point of this? It’ll cost a fortune.

You’ll never get back into office with that.

This is insanity. If this got through I’d seriously consider emigrating.

The LDP are crazy too. I can hear jackboots.

There isn’t even an army so what’re they thinking of doing with all those militiamen?

The LDP’s turned into a cult.

They not got enough SDF recruits?

I recall there were several times more applicants than places…

The US wouldn’t stand by and let them go through with that.

The US’d welcome the extra pawns.

This is right. Hurry up and put the unemployed in the army.

The LDP have gone absolutely insane.

I’m a NEET but I’m the eldest son so they’d let me off, right?

I’m ill so I can’t go.

My eyesight is really bad, I can’t go either.

Why are they making something requiring specialist technical knowledge into a ‘duty’? The global trend is away from conscription…

Those worthless old people are just yammering “young people today don’t have any guts” again.

This is no good. Even if they really want to pass it, announcing it like this is crazy.

They sound as if they want to have us fight another Asian nation…

Marvellous – finally I can fight and die magnificently for the sake of our great nation – my heart burns!

You dirty otaku needn’t worry as you’d be rejected for having bad eyesight.

Get lost! I’d sooner die than serve! You can be sure the children of the rich and powerful will get out of it or be given easy work.

If they don’t brainwash people from childhood, how do they expect this to work? They think the youth of Japan would obey after all these years?

Idiots – human wave tactics in this day and age. Quality over quantity, and huge amounts of money are required, you fools.

Rearmament plans are in, now hurry up with the nuclear arsenal already!

As expected they take no notice of public opinion, they’re digging their own graves.

Just who are the LDP fighting?

You guys needn’t worry, it’s the elementary schoolers who are going to get shafted.

They should conscript the old guys too – make sure sending those crazy old fool politicians to the front lines is the number one priority.

This is probably how they intend to fix their shortage of caregivers for old people.

Stop it. You’ll only increase suicides even more.

Impossible. This’d just be like being told to die by America. No different from that messed up Empire we had.

This country’s had it. I never imagined we’d end up with politicians this stupid.

The LDP are a bunch of geriatrics you know. Wherever you are, war is just the elderly sending the young to the battlefield.

Update: The politician quoted has hurriedly denied the LDP plans any conscription, saying that “we were only interested in looking at the situation in other countries, and have no plans to implement it here.”

This of course leaves open the question of why they would want to be considering such systems if they had no plans of implementing it…