日本上院选举 修宪应慎重为之(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号日本上院选举结果使立法天平向修宪派立法者倾斜，对此没有谁比安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)更高兴了。

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，相比为日本的未来奠定一个坚实基础，摆脱日本在遭遇战败和占领后被施加的约束远远没有那么重要。

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

越来越多的日本人似乎接受了他们应该尝试制定自己的宪法这一想法。

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年版的现行“和平宪法”在盟军占领时期起草，其100来条内容强调个人权利，支持人民主权，削弱了战前的国家权力。

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

这部宪法保护了人民在宗教、工作、抗议、正当法律程序上的自由选择权，如今日本公民对这些权利习以为常。

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

随着亚洲各地紧张局势加剧——例如在南中国海——修宪的关注点主要集中在第9条“放弃战争”。

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.

日本的军事决定日益受到其邻国实力崛起的影响。朝鲜发展核武器促使东京方面大举投资弹道导弹防御。中国海上触角越伸越长，令人关注日本是否准备好防卫其海域和岛屿。

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，安倍内阁重新解释了宪法，允许军方在自身安全受到威胁的情况下与盟军（主要是美国）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.

安倍推动修宪被普遍认为是为了给日本自卫队解除战后限制的枷锁，但是实际上这场辩论的意义远不止于此。

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

修宪将相当于重新调整力量平衡，面向整个21世纪为日本的民主体制保驾护航。

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年宪法意在剥夺贵族的经济和政治影响力。该文件中最进步的元素之一是确立妇女权利。

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

根据和平宪法重建的国家体制与前身完全不同。