The Academic Response to the Constitutional Zone of Twilight

Japan's postwar constitution is reaching in the zone of twilight–Tasogaredoki or Ōmagatoki in Japanese. As “Your Name “(Kimi no na wa)–the animated film that became a megahit worldwide in 2016-17–shows to us, things contradictory coexist in such moment. Constitutional order and violation. Liberal-democratic and authoritarian regime. Social equality and neo-liberal market state. Judicial activism and negativism. In this paper, the author will argue that the leading school of Japanese constitutional jurisprudence bears, by constructing an eithor-or rivalry between Democracy and Constitutionalism, partly the responsiblity for the current situation. The author will examine 1) the deep-seated tradition of the leading school preferring a singular Constitutionalism friendly to apolitical liberalism and rule of elite lawyers; 2) how the Platonic, anti-democratic argument prevailed in the 1990s; 3) the leading school's reluctant alliance with social democrats in Abe years.