🗞️【3分で読む英語版天声人語】日本は「平和国家」の最後の砦を手放すのか

📝 Summary

Japan once maintained a strict policy that effectively banned the export of weapons. However, that stance began to change in 2014 when the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe allowed conditional arms exports.

At the time, Japan even competed to supply next-generation submarines to Australia in a major international defense contract worth trillions of yen. Although Japan was considered a strong contender, the deal eventually went to a French defense company.

The columnist, who was stationed in Sydney at the time, recalls feeling relieved that Japan did not win the contract, as the idea of exporting weapons felt uncomfortable.

Now, nearly a decade later, Japan may be moving further away from its long-standing restrictions. A proposal submitted by ruling coalition parties suggests scrapping the remaining arms export ban.

The column raises the question of whether Japan is prepared to abandon what has long been seen as one of the final pillars of its pacifist ideals.

📌 Quote

“If Maehara’s suggestion is that Japan should therefore join the ranks of the merchants of death, his logic is flawed.”

「もし日本も『死の商人』の仲間入りをすべきだという意味なら、その理屈は間違っている。」

🔑 Key Words & Expressions

arms export（武器輸出）

arms export ban（武器輸出禁止）

defense industry（防衛産業）

submarine contract（潜水艦契約）

pacifist ideals（平和主義の理念）

merchants of death（死の商人）

national security（国家安全保障）

defense policy（防衛政策）

public opinion poll（世論調査）

policy shift（政策転換）

💬 Emma’s Comment（Japanese）

武器輸出という言葉には、どうしても複雑な感情を抱いてしまいます。

国際情勢が不安定になる中で、安全保障について議論すること自体は避けて通れないことだと思います。
しかし同時に、日本は長い間「戦争に加担しない国である」という姿勢を大切にしてきた国でもあります。

もし武器輸出が本格的に認められるようになれば、それは日本の安全保障政策だけでなく、この国が長く守ってきた価値観そのものを変えることになるのかもしれません。

武器輸出の拡大が本当に必要なのか。
それがこの国の進むべき方向なのか。

政府だけでなく、私たち一人一人が考え続けるべき問題なのかもしれません。

💬 Emma’s Comment（English）

The idea of exporting weapons inevitably evokes mixed feelings.

At a time when the international security environment is becoming increasingly unstable, discussions about national defense cannot be avoided.
At the same time, however, Japan has long valued its identity as a country that seeks not to be directly involved in war.

If weapons exports are expanded, the change may affect not only Japan’s security policy but also the principles that the country has tried to uphold for decades.

Is expanding arms exports truly necessary?
Is that the direction this country should take?

Perhaps this is a question that not only the government, but each of us as citizens, must continue to think about.

Source: The Asahi Shimbun, March 10

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