The dialogue examines the risks of militarisation facing Japan after the abolition of the five-category restrictions on weapons exports, as well as issues surrounding the nature of the state. It features Atsushi Sugita (杉田敦) and Yasuo Hasebe (長谷部恭男), and also refers to the context of Asahi Shimbun Publications' paperback book “An Active Defence of the Constitution.”
On 21 April 2026, the Japanese government abolished the “five-category” restrictions that had limited the purposes for which weapons could be exported. Against this backdrop, as concerns grow that expanded weapons exports will promote militarisation, the dialogue addressed the risk of militarisation spreading throughout society.
The dialogue contrasted the view that expanding military capabilities strengthens deterrence with the position that it could trigger a chain reaction of an arms race. A central topic was how constitutionalism can support policy decisions from a long-term perspective.
The discussion organised the history of the forms of state Japan has experienced around the distinction between the “corporate state” and the “state as a public square.” Taking into account the unified mobilisation of the prewar state and postwar pluralism, it considered the position of constitutional defence arguments today.
The relationship between academia and national objectives was also addressed, with views expressed that academic autonomy should be protected. The dialogue stressed the argument that protecting the state as a public square, rather than making constitutional revision an end in itself, is the core of constitutionalism.