Asahi Shimbun’s long-repeated claim that Japan should “learn from Costa Rica” as a model of pacifism is built on falsehoods. Masayuki Takayama exposes the real reasons behind Costa Rica’s abolition of its military, the true scale of its security forces, and the deception surrounding Panama. This excerpt reveals how Article 9 survives only through such fabrications.

The Lie Behind Asahi’s “Learn from Costa Rica”
2017-08-09
I wrote that Masayuki Takayama is a man of unbending backbone.
A friend then recommended one of his books to me.
“Xi Jinping, Learn Your ‘Anti-Japan’ from Asahi,” Masayuki Takayama, Shinchosha, 1,400 yen.
What follows is taken from pages 117 through 120.
The Lie Behind Asahi’s “Learn from Costa Rica”
Asahi Shimbun’s lies are not limited to Seiji Yoshida.
Surrounded by worthless countries committing serious wrongs such as abductions and territorial intrusions,
when one considers how to protect oneself, Asahi suddenly says we should learn from the small country of Costa Rica.
“This country stipulated the abandonment of its military in its constitution and invested those resources in education, becoming one of the most stable countries in Central and South America,” “It even persuaded neighboring countries, and now Panama too has abolished its military.”
Article 9 of the Constitution is never wrong.
As Donald Keene says, it is “Japan’s pride.”
Therefore, one must not think of admonishing China or Korea.
Rather, it is desirable to live by peaceful diplomacy like Costa Rica.
This entire idea of “using Costa Rica as a model” is a complete lie.
That lie, just like the Yoshida Seiji case, has been written and passed down for nearly twenty years by successive correspondents such as Ken Fujimori and Chihiro Ito.
When they return to Japan, they are invited to lecture by various “Article 9 Associations,” save small amounts of money, and after retirement become professors at Senshu University, where they again spew the same lies from the lectern.
Just as Harufumi Kiyota, who supported Yoshida Seiji’s lies, became a professor at Tezukayama Gakuin University, Asahi has established a secure retirement system for journalists who write lies.
Their story begins with “In 1949, Figueres, who had quelled the civil war, dissolved the army he himself commanded and stipulated its abolition in the constitution. This was because democracy does not need a military.”
That is a lie.
For example, Ayatollah Khomeini was able to achieve the Islamic Revolution because the Iranian national army obeyed him.
Once in power, the first thing he did was purge that national army, because a military can carry out a coup.
For those who hold power, it is the most dangerous existence.
Figueres thought the same way.
The correct interpretation is that he abolished the military so that no one after him could stage a coup against him.
That region is America’s backyard.
If another country violates a border, the United States will not allow it.
It can be called the crafty wisdom of a small country that anticipated such circumstances.
Then what happens to public security if the military is abolished.
“Just over ten thousand police officers handle it,” Fujimori writes.
The word “just” is a lie.
In terms of population ratio, the number of police officers is nearly twice the number of Japan’s Self-Defense Force personnel.
Moreover, they are equipped with attack helicopters, rocket launchers, and even missiles.
Since conscription is possible in emergencies, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) describes them as a “paramilitary force.”
In other words, it means “one step short of being capable of staging a coup.”
An even more laughable lie is the part that says, “They urged neighboring countries to forgo militaries as well, and achieved this in several countries including Panama.”
Panama was attacked by a surprise U.S. invasion in 1989 during the era of President Bush the elder and was occupied.
The purpose of the surprise attack was to abduct General Noriega, a powerful figure who had once worked for the CIA and knew U.S. secrets.
After capturing the general, the U.S. military dismantled the Panamanian national army itself so that Panama would not respond with armed retaliation to this rude American invasion.
It is the same as stripping Japan, which retains the right of retaliation for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, of its military.
Fujimori then turns this into an achievement of Costa Rica’s peaceful diplomacy.
Article 9 of the Constitution can apparently be propped up only by such lies.
To be continued.