Former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama said Wednesday "a sense of crisis" drove him to join protesters outside the Diet who were rallying against legislation that would overhaul the country's security policies.

Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, the 91-year-old expressed concern about the implications of the bills — currently being debated in the Upper House — to expand the role of the Self-Defense Forces abroad.

Murayama said he expects the bills will pass with a majority vote in the Upper House, and that he fears a revision of the war-renouncing Constitution will eventually become a reality.