Japan's pacifist Constitution is at a crossroads as the 67th anniversary of its taking effect was celebrated around the country on Saturday.
The charter has never been amended since it entered into force in 1947, but the Diet is paving the way for potential revisions and is slated to enact a law to lower the national referendum voting age to 18 from 20 this year.
Although more parties in both the ruling and opposition camps concede the necessity of revising the Constitution in accordance with the needs of the times, they are divided as to whether Japan should be able to exercise the right to collective self-defense without such amendment.