日本上院選舉 修憲應慎重爲之(1)

No one can be happier than Shinzo Abe that Sunday’s upper house election tipped the legislative bAlance in favour of lawmakers open to revising Japan’s constitution.

7月10號日本上院選舉結果使立法天平向修憲派立法者傾斜，對此沒有誰比安倍晉三(Shinzo Abe)更高興了。

But throwing off the constraints that followed military defeat and occupation, long an ambition of the prime minister, will be far less important than building a firm foundation for the nation’s future.

但是，相比爲日本的未來奠定一個堅實基礎，擺脫日本在遭遇戰敗和佔領後被施加的約束遠遠沒有那麼重要。

A growing number of Japanese people seem taken with the notion that they should try crafting their own constitution.

越來越多的日本人似乎接受了他們應該嘗試制定自己的憲法這一想法。

The 100 or so articles of the 1947 document, drafted under occupation by the Allied powers, offset the power of the prewar state by strengthening the individual rights that support popular sovereignty.

1947年版的現行“和平憲法”在盟軍佔領時期起草，其100來條內容強調個人權利，支持人民主權，削弱了戰前的國家權力。

They protect the choices — of religion, work, protest, due process — Japanese citizens today take for granted.

這部憲法保護了人民在宗教、工作、抗議、正當法律程序上的自由選擇權，如今日本公民對這些權利習以爲常。

As tensions intensify across Asia — in the South China Sea, for example — the focus is largely on Article 9, the “no war” clause.

隨着亞洲各地緊張局勢加劇——例如在南中國海——修憲的關注點主要集中在第9條“放棄戰爭”。

Japan’s military decisions are increasingly shaped by its neighbours’ rising capabilities. North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons prompted Tokyo to invest heavily in ballistic missile defence. China’s growing maritime reach has drawn attention to Japan’s readiness to defend its waters and its islands.

日本的軍事決定日益受到其鄰國實力崛起的影響。朝鮮發展核武器促使東京方面大舉投資彈道導彈防禦。中國海上觸角越伸越長，令人關注日本是否準備好防衛其海域和島嶼。

Last year Mr Abe’s cabinet reinterpreted the constitution to allow the military to co-operate with others, primarily the US, if its own security is threatened.

去年，安倍內閣重新解釋了憲法，允許軍方在自身安全受到威脅的情況下與盟軍（主要是美國）合作。

Mr Abe’s push to revise the constitution is widely perceived as a way to free Japan’s Self-Defense Force from its postwar restrictions, but the debate is in fact about far more than this.

安倍推動修憲被普遍認爲是爲了給日本自衛隊解除戰後限制的枷鎖，但是實際上這場辯論的意義遠不止於此。

Revising the constitution would equate to nothing less than weighing up the balance of forces that will sustain Japanese democracy throughout the 21st century.

修憲將相當於重新調整力量平衡，面向整個21世紀爲日本的民主體制保駕護航。

In 1947, the aim was to strip the aristocracy of its economic and political influence. One of the most progressive elements of the document was the establishment of rights for women.

1947年憲法意在剝奪貴族的經濟和政治影響力。該文件中最進步的元素之一是確立婦女權利。

The state set up under the postwar constitution was a far cry from its predecessor.

根據和平憲法重建的國家體制與前身完全不同。