Does the fate of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts (at least in the Diet) to revise the Constitution lie in Osaka?
That's the question following a statement by Abe earlier this month that he hopes to cooperate with Osaka Ishin no Kai on the issue following July's Upper House election.
It's no secret that Abe has long admired Osaka Ishin, which favors the goal of constitutional revision even if it has doubts about aspects of Abe's specific plans for doing so. But with a bit of luck in July, Abe and Osaka Ishin leaders hope, the small local party formed by former Mayor Toru Hashimoto will win enough seats to create a supermajority between the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and Osaka Ishin on the issue.