The Emergence and Establishment of Sovereignty and Human Rights in Postwar Japanese Political History

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26884071
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Japanese history
• Research Institution: Ritsumeikan University
• Principal Investigator: HAYASHI Naoyuki 立命館大学, 衣笠総合研究機構, 研究員 (20733273)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-08-29 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 戦後政治 / 戦後改憲思想 / 国際法思想 / 安全保障政策構想 / 日米安保 / 原子力開発史 / 主権論

Outline of Final Research Achievements

First, it revealed, through analysis of the security policy plan of Japan and the Japan-US Security Agreements, that the pacifism of the 9th article of the Constitution was perceived as an integral aspect of the collective security of the UN. Second, the analysis of the ideas regarding constitutional amendment during the prewar and postwar periods found that the national polity theory makes it possible to explain that defeat in World War II, acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration, and establishment of the Constitution of Japan were theoretically under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan. Third, the analysis of postwar development of nuclear energy revealed that the Kishi Cabinet’s plan to improve defense capacity was drawn up with the goal of possessing a nuclear capability that would deal with emergent situations denounced by the US-Japan Security Treaty. In sum, this study reveals how sovereignty and human rights emerged and were established in postwar Japanese political history.

Free Research Field

近現代史