Tokyo, Nov. 3 (Jiji Press)–A showdown between Japan’s ruling and opposition parties is intensifying over a possible revision of the country’s Constitution, which on Tuesday marked 80 years since its promulgation. The country’s supreme law, which was promulgated Nov. 3, 1946, and took effect May 3, 1947, has never been amended. Political forces advocating constitutional amendment, such as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, are calling for accelerating discussions on constitutional amendment, in response to Prime Minister and LDP President Sanae Takaichi’s intention to pave the way by next spring for a constitutional revision proposal by the Diet, the country’s parliament. Parties and groups that are cautious, including the “Chudo” centrist caucus in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, are boosting their resistance, saying that premature moves aimed at revising the Constitution should not be tolerated. Chudo mainly comprises lawmakers of Komeito and the Democratic Reform Party, both opposition parties. Some say the 2028 election for the Senate, the upper chamber, could be an important juncture. High Hurdles “An ideal country is defined by the Constitution,” Takaichi said at a meeting of the Senate Budget Committee on Oct. 16, reiterating her eagerness to realize constitutional revision. Kiyomi Tsujimoto of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan criticized this remark, saying, “Ideals differ from person to person.” Amending the current Constitution, which was established based on a draft compiled by the General Headquarters of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers following the end of World War II, is a key LDP policy set at the time of the party’s founding in 1955. Discussions on the matter had been stalled for a long time, but gained momentum after the LDP regained power in 2012 for the first time in about three years under then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe declared in 2017 that he wanted to enforce a new Constitution in 2020. Still, the hurdles to constitutional amendment are “extremely high,” a person familiar with the matter said. For the Diet to propose constitutional revision, support from at least two-thirds of all members of each parliamentary chamber is required under a constitutional provision. In addition, the administration needs to have “enough strength,” a veteran LDP lawmaker said. Abe stepped down in 2020 due to health issues, and subsequent prime ministers failed to make progress for constitutional revision. Specifically, Yoshihide Suga, the immediate successor to Abe, was busy dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and his successor, Fumio Kishida, struggled amid tumbling public support for his cabinet due to the LDP’s “slush funds” scandal. Kishida’s successor, Shigeru Ishiba, faced a difficult situation after the LDP and its then coalition partner, Komeito, lost their combined majority in both Diet chambers. No prospect for Constitutional Revision Panel The situation began to change with the October 2025 launch of the Takaichi administration. That month, Komeito, which had played a role as a “brake” on the LDP, left the ruling bloc, and the JIP joined the coalition to serve as an “accelerator.” The LDP and the JIP together secured three-fourths of the Lower House seats in the February 2026 general election, and became aggressive on amending the Constitution. 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.” In May, the Lower House’s Legislative Bureau and secretariat presented to the chamber’s Commission on the Constitution a “draft image” of an emergency clause for addition to the supreme law. With a source related to the Lower House saying that the draft image is “a de facto draft article,” the ruling parties took a big step toward the Diet’s constitutional revision proposal. Since then, however, the coalition’s efforts have hit a snag due to a discord between the parties. While the LDP wants to focus on adding an emergency clause to the Constitution, the JIP insists that the top law’s Article 9, which renounces war, should be revised at the same time. In addition, the LDP calls for keeping intact the second paragraph of Article 9, which puts a brake on an expansion of the Self-Defense Forces’ activities, while the JIP demands the establishment of the “national defense forces” by removing the paragraph, which says that Japan will never possess “land, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential.” “There is no need to hold talks based on the timing indicated by Prime Minister Takaichi,” Komeito’s Toru Kunishige, a senior official at the Lower House’s Commission on the Constitution, said. While nearly half of the current 69-day extraordinary Diet session has ended, there is no prospect for the establishment of a committee to draft articles for a revised Constitution in both Diet chambers although the LDP and the JIP vowed to set up the committees “as early as possible” in their ruling coalition agreement. Change in Interpretation The end of the current Diet session is regarded as a de facto deadline for “preparing the way” for the Diet to propose constitutional revision as political parties will be busy discussing the government’s draft fiscal 2027 budget until March during next year’s ordinary Diet session. “It’s almost impossible under the current circumstances,” said Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, which is in favor of constitutional amendment. A veteran LDP lawmaker said, “A deadline should not have been set.” Under these circumstances, some are seeking to revise the interpretation of the language “preparing the way” in an attempt to soften the blow to the Takaichi administration. Initially, it was thought that the wording indicates the situation in which the Diet is “very close to” proposing constitutional amendment. But a middle-ranking LDP member said, “If we can show a schedule for constitutional amendment, we can say ‘we were able to prepare the way.'” Another LDP member said, “We can use the rhetoric if the LDP and the JIP agree on the direction of a revision of Article 9.” The ruling parties lack a majority in the Senate, and the post of chair at the upper chamber’s Commission on the Constitution is held by the opposition CDP. “Little progress will likely be made until the 2028 Senate election,” an informed source said, suggesting that the public opinion to be shown in the election will influence deliberations on constitutional revision. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
