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As the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet coursed by Jupiter in July 1994, it broke up into fragments that struck the huge planet, causing a series of power explosions stretching over six days. Paralleling the cosmic phenomenon, revolutionary changes were taking place in the microcosm of Japan's parliament. That month, the Social Democratic Party of Japan (SDPJ) made a series of radical changes in the fundamental policy line it had adhered to for decades. As a political journalist who for 30 years has closely followed the activities of the party, I was astonished by Prime Minister Murayama Tomiichi's announcement of such drastic shifts. In the Asahi Shimbun editorial for July 29, 1994, I wrote: "[The confusion in Nagatacho] is like Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet fragments crashing into the earth." In late June 1994, the party had for the first time in 47 years seized the reins of government. Drawn by the magnetism of power, the social democrats seemed to be dashing along a path of self-destruction, like the comet fragments pulled by Jupiter's gravitation smashing into the great planet's surface.
At the July 20, 1994, plenary session of the House of Representatives (Lower House)--his first opportunity to reply to parliamentary interpellation after assuming the prime ministership--Murayama said, "I understand that the Self-Defense Forces [SDF], an organization devoted exclusively to defense and armed to the minimum extent necessary for self-defense, is in conformity with the Constitution." With this statement, the social democrats officially abandoned their claim that the SDF was unconstitutional, a position they had long and staunchly defended. Murayama was obviously determined that the SDPJ's policy shift be made clear; before his remarks about the constitutionality of the SDF he called upon his audience to "Listen carefully."
Murayama also embraced the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, which the SDPJ had bitterly opposed for decades, saying the treaty "serves as the political foundation for broad Japan-U.S. cooperation in the international community" and deeming it indispensable to the development of peace and prosperity in Asia. Ignoring an avalanche of criticism, he resolutely stated that his administration would stand by the effective implementation of the current security system.
That was not the end of the prime minister's statements reversing SDPJ policies. The SDPJ and the Japan Teachers' Union, a strong supporter of the...