2026 POLLS: Road to Constitutional Revisions Emerging as Key Topic

Tokyo, Feb. 4 (Jiji Press)–Attention is being paid to whether parties calling for constitutional amendments in Japan will secure seats enough for parliament to propose the changes to the people, in Sunday’s election for the House of Representatives, its lower chamber. Views have been spreading that forces supporting the revisions, including the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, and the Democratic Party for the People, an opposition party, may secure the two-thirds of Lower House seats. There has been little debate about the matter during the campaigning, however. The LDP lists four items for the revisions in its campaign pledges, including specifying the Self-Defense Forces and establishing emergency clauses in the Constitution. The JIP seeks to revise war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution and setting up emergency clauses in it, calling for an early national referendum on the changes. “Why can’t we specify the Self-Defense Forces in the Constitution?” Prime Minister and LDP President Sanae Takaichi asked in a stump speech in Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture, on Monday. “We want voters to allow us to amend the Constitution in order to protect their dignity and to identify them as a capable organization,” she said, referring to the SDF. Discussions on amendments have “not proceeded at all,” Takaichi said. Among opposition parties, the DPFP, Sanseito and the Conservative Party of Japan are positive about amending the Constitution. The DPFP seeks to set up emergency clauses, while Sanseito proposes that the people create a Constitution by themselves. The CPJ calls for revising the Constitution’s Article 9. The Centrist Reform Alliance, a party newly formed by the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, the LDP’s previous coalition partner, only says in its campaign pledges that it will deepen responsible discussions on constitutional amendments. The position of the new centrist party on constitutional amendments is vague as the CDP has opposed LDP-led efforts to amend the Constitution, while Komeito has supported changes as the LDP’s partner. Elsewhere in the opposition camp, the Japanese Communist Party, Reiwa Shinsengumi and the Social Democratic Party are clearly against constitutional revisions. The JCP says it is committed to protecting Article 9 of the Constitution and never allow moves to revise it. Still, discussions on constitutional amendments have not been active during the campaigning. Party leaders have focused on measures to cushion the impact of price increases as well as foreign and security policies. Takaichi has not mentioned constitutional amendments frequently in her stump speeches. DPFP leader Yuichiro Tamaki told reporters in Osaka on Tuesday that constitutional revisions require careful discussions on parliament. “The LDP and the JIP need to sort out opinions first because they say differently.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]