In 2014, the Abe Cabinet approved the exercise of the right of collective self-defense through a cabinet decision. This effectively rendered the 1947 Constitution of Japan completely meaningless. Japan's biggest policy shift since the war was forced through a method known as constitutional reinterpretation. In light of the constitutional provisions, this decision itself is unconstitutional, and we must say that the new security legislation, including the revised Self-Defense Forces Act enacted the following year in 2015, is also unconstitutional.
In today's Japan, constitutional review is even waived if the United States requests it. In other words, the will of those in power in the United States towers above all laws and regulations, and while Japan claims to be a "nation governed by the rule of law," in reality it has become a nation without the rule of law. What is the nature of Japan-U.S. relations that has so recklessly rendered the pacifist constitution meaningless?
Before delving into this question, I would like to offer my own perspective from various angles on the current situation in Japan and the world, where the assassination of Shinzo Abe casts a shadow. When considering the future course of Japan, which is drifting, it is impossible to avoid the shock and repercussions caused by this incident.
■ The starting point of Western fantasy
In 1873, Hideo Wada, who entered the Tomioka Silk Mill in Gunma Prefecture as an apprentice, wrote in his "Tomioka Diary" that the appearance of French engineers Brunat and his wife at a ceremony was "dazzlingly beautiful." The advanced civilization and the demeanor of the Western upper class left a deep impression on the apprentices and spread throughout the country. Since then, "foreign countries" have meant Europe and America, and Japanese people have long admired imported goods and people returning from overseas. The sentiment of "leaving Asia and entering Europe" was also reflected in the postwar boom in overseas travel, and has long held a spell on the Japanese.
This fantasy of the West was not merely a cultural aspiration; it influenced the design of political, economic, and social systems. The Meiji Constitution was a heavily reworked version of the Prussian Constitution, the military system was German-style, and the education system was influenced by France and Britain. Modern Japan pushed forward with its civilization and enlightenment under the slogan "catch up with and surpass the West." However, in the process, Japan's sense of being a part of Asia weakened, and its relations with neighboring countries became one of domination, oppression, and aggression.
This illusion continued even after the war. During the period of rapid economic growth, the goal was to achieve a "standard of living on par with that of Europe and the United States," and the top priority for home appliances and automobiles was to "earn foreign currency through exports." After overseas travel was liberalized in 1964, Japanese people flocked to Europe and the United States, bringing back brand-name goods and culture. The illusion of the West took root in people's minds as a "proof of modernization."
"Modern Japanese thought has always taken Western Europe as its model, while defining itself through contempt for Asia," Maruyama Masao's words in "The Logic and Psychology of Ultranationalism" (1947) sound almost trite, as if to say, "Why now?"
■ Duality of pro-American and anti-American
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in July 2022, often spoke proudly of "Japan shining at the center of the world ." This epitomized his nostalgia for the "first-class Japan" under the Versailles system. However, the state funeral and trial surrounding his death shook Japan's judiciary, executive, legislative, and media.
The trial of Yamagami Tetsuya, who was charged with perpetrating Abe's murder, continued to be delayed, with the first hearing finally taking place in November 2025, nearly three and a half years after the crime occurred. The verdict was hurriedly handed down in January 2026, as if to seal the truth in a "Pandora's box." The state funeral elevated "Abe's death" to a national ritual, and the trial served to conceal the darkness lurking behind it.
Abe repeatedly stated that he was "100% with the United States," but underneath that lurked anti-American sentiment, as seen in his denial of the Tokyo Trials, his rejection of the Constitution, his obsession with visiting Yasukuni Shrine, and his interactions with Putin. Anti-American sentiment is aimed at globalist Americans centered on Wall Street, so cooperation with Trump and Putin, who both advocated the dismantling of the deep state, was inevitable.
How can we understand the background to Abe's duality? This brings us to the dark side of the assassination.
The dissolution of the Abe faction and the dynamics within the LDP
After Abe's assassination, the Abe faction (Seiwa-kai), which was the largest faction, was dissolved and disappeared amid allegations of illicit funds. The Seiwa-kai, a symbol of factional politics, had been at the core of postwar conservative politics. Along with the Tanaka and Takeshita factions, the Seiwa-kai embodied the conflict between "mainstream conservatives" and "sidestream conservatives." The dissolution of the Abe faction shook the dynamics within the LDP to its core.
Collapse of factional balance. The LDP previously maintained a system of "presidential democracy" in which the prime minister was selected through a balance of multiple factions. However, with the dissolution of the Abe faction, the largest faction disappeared, and the balance was broken.
The rise of the Kishida faction. The Kishida faction, which originated from the Kōchikai, expanded its influence by filling the vacuum left by the Abe faction. However, the Kōchikai has traditionally been "liberal conservative," and its policies differ from the right-wing policies of the Abe faction. Policy conflicts within the party deepened.
The Aso and Motegi factions competed for leadership after the dissolution of the Abe faction. Aso maintained his influence as the elder statesman, while Motegi emerged as a pragmatist.
The 1994 electoral reform weakened the power of factions, and the establishment of the Cabinet Personnel Bureau to handle personnel matters within Kasumigaseki strengthened the leadership of the Prime Minister's Office. The Abe administration is a prime example of this, having established a long-term administration led by the Prime Minister's Office, which held sole control over personnel matters within the party, cabinet, and Kasumigaseki. The dissolution of the Abe faction signaled the end of the "LDP rule through factional balance" that had continued since the 1955 system. Since the 1955 system was established for the convenience of the United States, its end should also be seen as being for the convenience of the United States.
The Disintegration of Pax Americana and the New Order
Following the end of the Cold War, the United States declared in the 1992 Defense Planning Guidelines (DPG), issued under the leadership of the neoconservatives, that "the United States will maintain world order and will not tolerate the rise of a rival superpower." Neoconservative and neoliberal globalism widened inequality and led to the resurgence of imperialist powers in the early 21st century. Trump, who employed Kissinger as an advisor, sympathized with the dismantling of globalization. This is why Trump is the target of globalist international finance capital and the military-industrial complex.
Abe's anti-American sentiment is undoubtedly a reaction against globalism. This "anti-American sentiment" refers to hostility toward globalist Americans who, centered around Wall Street, which led Japan into war with the United States, and who sought to control the Asia-Pacific region and China through the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Institute of Pacific Relations (IPR), which was established after the 1929 Kyoto Conference, when the Rockefeller Foundation began donating and Rockefeller III first joined . Cooperation with Trump and Putin was inevitable. Behind the state funeral was a question of Japan's position at this time of global order change.
Trump's second term and "Japan in Asia"
Trump's diplomacy in his second term has the potential to decisively shake up the hegemonic structure of the United States. In his first term, he advocated "America First," urging allies to shoulder defense costs and amending his stance that maintaining international order was the sole responsibility of the United States. In his second term, the focus will likely be on rebuilding relations with Russia and adopting a conciliatory approach toward the expanding BRICS. If the United States were to steer toward accepting multipolarity, Pax Americana would effectively disintegrate, and the world order would shift to a multipolar structure.
This change has profound implications for Japan. Under the spell of "Datsu-A, Nur-Europe," Japan's postwar alliance with the United States has been its top priority. However, as American hegemony falters, its traditional, exclusively pro-American diplomacy becomes dysfunctional. Japan must recognize itself as the "Japan of Asia" and rebuild its relations with China, India, Russia, and ASEAN countries. Abe's dual pro-American and anti-American stance symbolized Japan's conflict at this time of transition. After Abe's assassination, Trump continued to contact Akie Abe and invited her to his Florida villa. There must have been "serious circumstances" behind this. Trump himself experienced an assassination attempt and intuitively sensed the shadow of the deep state.
Trump's diplomacy in his second term should focus on Russia and the expanded BRICS. If the Trump administration adopts a conciliatory stance toward BRICS, Pax Americana will be shaken and the world order will undergo a decisive change. The "Datsu-A, Nyu-O" slogan that has held Japan in sway for over 150 years could potentially be put to rest.
■ Post-Cold War and the Presentation of the Chinese Threat
The end of the Cold War was expected to bring a "peace dividend" to the world. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 created the illusion of an era of international reconciliation and cooperation. However, the reality was different. For the neoconservatives, or neoconservatives, who dominated U.S. security policy, the post-Cold War period was an opportunity to establish sole U.S. hegemony. They envisioned a system in which the United States could act independently, unconstrained by the framework of the United Nations, and in 1992 they drafted the Defense Planning Guidelines (DPG). Drafted by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz and others, this document stated that "no new rivals to the United States will be tolerated" and laid out a hegemonic strategy with China and Russia in mind. Furthermore, it sought to incorporate former enemies Germany and Japan into the U.S. plan for global domination and contain them to prevent them from becoming a threat again.
This strategy led to a redefinition of Japan's security policy. During the Gulf War, Japan was pressured to "shed blood as well as money." Financial aid alone was deemed insufficient, and the Self-Defense Forces were forced to participate in United Nations peacekeeping operations (PKO). This marked a turning point, shifting from "money to people," and Japan subsequently began its path to becoming involved in US-led wars. The 1995 "Nye Initiative" called for maintaining a 100,000-strong US military presence in East Asia even after the Cold War and for strengthening the functions of US military bases in Japan. The 1996 Japan-US Joint Declaration on Security, the 1997 New Guidelines, and the 1999 Law on Situations in Areas Surrounding Japan institutionalized this trend. Japan thus abandoned the principle of exclusively defensive defense and began considering activities outside its territory.
However, domestic public support is essential to sending the SDF to fight alongside the U.S. military outside of Japan's territory. To achieve this, the "China threat theory" was created. From the late 1990s through the 2000s, emphasis was placed on China's military expansion and anti-Japanese demonstrations, spreading the perception that "China is dangerous" within Japan. Right-wing groups became more active, and the promotion of patriotism permeated society. Rising sun flags flew in the stands at sporting events, and cheers of "Japan is amazing" filled the air. In 1997, the Japan Conference was founded, bringing together lawmakers and religious figures who advocated an imperial historical view. Shinzo Abe actively participated, criticizing liberal conservatives for "tributary diplomacy." These developments fostered a prewar mood and paved the way for justifying constitutional reform and visits to Yasukuni Shrine.
The instigation of the China threat is not merely a coincidental phenomenon. The influence of US and British intelligence agencies has been pointed out in the Tiananmen Square incident, the Uighur independence movement, and the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement. In his 1995 East Asia Strategy Report, Joseph Nye declared that "the US military presence in East Asia will be essential even after the Cold War." Therefore, it is highly likely that the growing tensions in the East China Sea and the conflict over the nationalization of the Senkaku Islands were not spontaneous, but were deliberately fanned.
By exacerbating Japanese sentiment toward China and transforming it from hatred to anger, public opinion was formed to accept the exercise of the right of collective self-defense and the establishment of a posture to attack enemy bases. In this context, Shinzo Abe was elevated to the status of a "hawkish nobleman" and became a trump card for his handlers in both Japan and the United States in favor of accepting the right of collective self-defense.
In this way, post-Cold War Japan-US relations, through the portrayal of the Chinese threat, led Japan to become a military superpower. The combination of US hegemonism and right-wing mobilization within Japan led to the Abe administration's acceptance of the right to collective self-defense and the enactment of new security legislation. At the same time, Japan has effectively joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which now engages in global military activities, and, together with the United States, Britain, Australia, Germany, and France, has formed a China containment network. This was not simply a policy shift; it fundamentally altered Japan's position in the post-Cold War international order.
■Conclusion
The Abe assassination was not merely an incident; it was a mirror that reflected the structural problems lurking deep within Japanese politics. The silence of the judiciary, the stagnation of the administration, the powerlessness of the legislature, and the atrophy of the media—these problems all came to light at once, clearly signaling the end of the 1955 system that had underpinned postwar Japan.
The dissolution of the Abe faction meant the collapse of factional politics, and with the death of the Abe administration, which symbolized an era of leadership by the Prime Minister's Office, the LDP has been forced to seek a new balance.
At the same time, Abe's policies have reaffirmed the 150-year-old curse of "Datsu-A Ron-Ou." Japan's continued subservience to the United States is embodied in Abe's dual pro-American and anti-American stance. However, the world is already moving toward the disintegration of Pax Americana, with the expansion of BRICS and the reorganization of Eurasia underway.
If Trump's diplomacy in his second term is conciliatory, the world order will change decisively, and Japan will also be forced to become aware of its role as the "Japan of Asia."
Abe's assassination was not simply the death of an individual; it signaled the structural end of postwar Japanese politics. The dual nature of pro-Americanism and anti-Americanism was a microcosm of the contradictions Japan had been harboring. The collapse of the Abe faction marked the end of the 1955 system, and the LDP was thrown into a state of adrift. As the world order shifts to a multipolar world, Japan is being forced to recognize itself as "Japan in Asia." I believe that the only way to overcome subservience to the United States is to transcend Western fantasies and break free from the spell of "leave Asia and join Europe."