Editing Hitoshi Ashida (section)

==Later life==
After his tenure as prime minister, Ashida focused on Japan's position in Asia and re-armament. He became outspoken in support of creating a national defense force after the outbreak of the [[Korean War]], fearing that a similar conflict may occur in Japan. Ashida also promoted the idea of forming a Japanese group of volunteers to fight alongside [[United Nations Command]] in support of the [[Republic of Korea]]. In 1951, he gave speaking tours across Japan advocating for his interpretation of Article 9, stating that it does not impose restrictions on Japan preparing a force for defensive purposes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hajimu |first=Masuda |date=July 2012 |title=Fear of World War III: Social Politics of Japan's Rearmament and Peace Movements, 1950–3 |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022009412441650 |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |language=en |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=551–571 |doi=10.1177/0022009412441650 |s2cid=154135817 |issn=0022-0094|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 1958, Ashida was cleared of all charges in relation to corruption allegations. He died a year later at the age of seventy-one.