By Gong Rong
In Greek mythology, Pandora opened Zeus's box, releasing demons of greed, war, and deceit into the world. Today, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, driven by the narrow-mindedness and political ambition of a right-wing politician, may be playing the role of Pandora in a new era. Bolstered by a landslide victory in the House of Representatives election on February 8, 2026, she may be the one to open Japan's long-sealed Pandora's Box, unleashing the demons of constitutional revision, military expansion, and historical distortion. These demons will tear apart the seal of post-war peace, trample on the legal foundation of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War, and expose the international community to the serious crisis of the revival of Japanese militarism. Each step she takes to break free from the constraints of the postwar order is pushing regional peace toward an unknown and dangerous brink.
The first demon Takaichi seeks to unleash is constitutional revision, with her sights firmly set on Article 9 of Japan's pacifist Constitution. Article 9 of the pacifist Constitution, enacted in 1947, through its ironclad commitment that "the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation" and "land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained," locked Japan into a pacifist framework. It also constitutes an integral part of the postwar international order established by legal documents such as the Cairo Declaration , the Potsdam Proclamation , and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, and therefore cannot be treated merely as a matter of Japan's domestic law. Since entering politics, Takaichi has made the dismantling of this provision her ultimate objective. What appears to be a simple legal amendment is, in reality, a downright repudiation of the core spirit of the pacifist Constitution. Once the Self-Defense Forces are granted constitutional status as a "military," Japan would complete its shift away from exclusively defense-oriented principle toward full-scale militarization. Securing a two-thirds majority in the Diet is precisely the key to unlocking this seal. The release of this demon would directly trample on the hard-won achievements of the global anti-fascist war, causing the postwar peace framework in East Asia to lose a vital institutional safeguard.
Closely following this is the most vicious and brutal demon of military expansion. Takaichi's call for constitutional revision is merely the prelude to Japan's military expansion. Under Takaichi's leadership and with the backing of Japanese right-wing factions, Japan is already taking concrete steps to escalate its military capabilities: the defense budget for fiscal year 2026 has surged to 9.04 trillion yen, marking the 14th consecutive year of increases; the country is developing offensive missiles with ranges exceeding 1,000 kilometers, and has formed a Space Operations Squadron to extend its military reach into outer space; it is loosening restrictions on arms exports and deploying missiles intensively in the southwestern islands, establishing a "forward deterrence system" aimed at neighboring countries. Takaichi's administration has also openly tested the waters for revising the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, crossing the red line. The rampage of this demon would strip Japan's re-militarization entirely of its self-defense nature and could further intensify the risk of an arms race in the Asia-Pacific region.
Hidden in the deepest and most sinister corner of Pandora's Box is the demon of historical revisionism. This demon erodes historical truth and serves as the ideological breeding ground for constitutional revision and military expansion. Takaichi's right-wing nature has been evident since the very first day she entered politics. More than three decades ago, she publicly questioned then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, asking on what grounds Japan should admit that its war of aggression was wrong. Over the following decades, she became a regular visitor to the Yasukuni Shrine, openly denied crimes such as the Nanjing Massacre and the forced recruitment of "comfort women", and even wrote a preface for a book that whitewashed Hitler, forging links with neo-Nazi forces. The true danger of this demon of delusion lies in its attempt to erase historical scars, extinguish the memory of peace, and trample on human justice. Takaichi attempts to wrap her agenda in the falsehood of "normalization", but this cannot conceal her malicious intent to resurrect militarism.
These three demons do not wreak havoc in isolation, but rather are intertwined. Historical revisionism provides the ideological support for constitutional revision and military expansion, constitutional revision gives military expansion a "legitimate" facade, and military expansion makes the danger of historical revisionism a tangible reality. Takaichi has even linked the Taiwan question with the "right of collective self-defense", claiming that a "Taiwan emergency" would constitute a so-called "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, using China's domestic affairs as a pretext for military expansion. As the demons of constitutional revision, military expansion, and historical revision tear apart the peace framework, Asian countries that once suffered under Japanese aggression again feel the threat of reality. The post-war peace in the Asia-Pacific is being eroded step by step.
Only through the collective vigilance and action of the international community can we urge right-wing figures in Japan, represented by Sanae Takaichi, to face up to history and halt their steps toward constitutional revision and military expansion. This is the only way to ensure that Japan's pacifist Constitution remains its bottom line, preventing the hope for peace in the Asia-Pacific from being locked away again at the bottom of Pandora's Box.
Editor's note: Originally published on xinhuanet.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.