Tokyo, Nov. 3 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Constitution, which on Tuesday marked 80 years since its promulgation, is at a watershed moment, with the ruling bloc leaning toward initiating the process of revising the supreme law for the first time ever. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its Japan Innovation Party ally are seeking to advance procedures for the Diet, the country’s parliament, to propose an amendment to the Constitution, after the LDP and the JIP won far more than two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives, the Diet’s lower chamber, in February’s general election. Still, efforts to build consensus between the ruling and opposition forces on constitutional revision have made little progress, and national debate on the issue has not become active. Under a constitutional clause, support from at least two-thirds of all members of each Diet chamber is required for the parliament to propose constitutional revision. In contrast to its overwhelming control of the Lower House, the ruling bloc currently lacks a majority in the Senate, the upper chamber. The current Constitution, based on the principles of popular sovereignty, respect for fundamental human rights and pacifism, was established through a revision of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan, known as the Meiji Constitution, following the end of World War II. It was promulgated on Nov. 3, 1946, and went into effect on May 3, 1947. The General Headquarters of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, which oversaw Japan following its surrender in the war, rejected the Japanese government’s initial draft amendment of the Meiji Constitution in February 1946 and instead presented the so-called MacArthur draft. As the modern Japanese Constitution is based on the draft compiled by the GHQ, many proponents of constitutional revision argue that the supreme law was forced upon Japan. The LDP, which was founded in 1955, aimed to revise the Constitution but met with opposition from the now-defunct Japan Socialist Party, which advocated keeping it unchanged. With the LDP prioritizing promoting economic growth on the back of the Japan-U.S. security treaty, constitutional revision did not become a realistic political issue under the so-called 1955 system, characterized by the LDP’s dominance in Japanese politics. The situation changed in the 1990s, when the 1955 system came to an end. The 1990-1991 Gulf War prompted intense debate in Japan over whether to allow the overseas dispatch of the country’s Self-Defense Forces, with some stressing the need for Japan to play a greater role in international affairs. In 2000, a research commission on the Constitution was set up in both Diet chambers, helping advance debate on the top law. The national referendum law, which stipulates procedures for revising the supreme law, was enacted in 2007 under the first administration of then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, an advocate of constitutional revision. The Commission on the Constitution was later established in both Diet chambers for discussions with a view to examining draft amendments. After the Abe-led LDP recaptured power from the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan and he launched his second administration in 2012, the Abe cabinet decided in 2014 to change the government’s interpretation of the Constitution to allow the country to exercise the right to collective self-defense. Through the 2016 election for the Senate, then called the House of Councillors, pro-constitutional revision forces held more than two-thirds of the seats in both chambers for the first time. Abe then declared that he wanted to enforce a new Constitution in 2020, and the LDP compiled draft articles covering four areas. Nevertheless, Abe stepped down as prime minister in 2020 due mainly to health issues, and subsequent administrations failed to make progress on constitutional amendment. The political environment surrounding constitutional amendment is changing again following the October 2025 inauguration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, also LDP leader. The LDP’s longtime ally, Komeito, which distanced itself from the LDP on constitutional revision, left the ruling coalition the same month and the JIP, which is in favor of a revision, took its place. The LDP-JIP ruling coalition established a relevant committee and is working to draft constitutional articles. At the LDP’s convention in April this year, Takaichi said, “I want to hold the 2027 party convention in a situation in which we can say we have been able to prepare the way for the Diet to propose constitutional amendment.” But the LDP and the JIP remain far apart on priority issues and the wording of potential draft articles. The LDP’s lawmakers in the upper and lower chambers are also divided. Some in the LDP say it would be realistic to aim for the Diet to propose constitutional revision after the 2028 Senate election. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
