2007 was a politically significant year. It is stirring to see how much the political terrain has changed from the beginning of the year to now.
It had been expected that the July Upper House election would have a great impact on the direction of Japanese politics. The administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tried to win the election by turning a "departure from the postwar regime" and revising the Constitution into major election issues. In view of the enactment in 2006 of the revision of the Fundamental Law of Education and in 2007 of the law on the procedures for a national referendum for constitutional revisions, it looked as if Abe was close to realizing his ambitions.
But Abe's Liberal Democratic Party suffered a crushing defeat in the election and the opposition gained control of the Upper House. In addition, Abe, the hope of the right, suddenly resigned in September and the LDP was cornered. Abe's political agenda completely failed to win public support. People were interested in issues close to their lives such as pensions and economic disparities, rather than changing the Constitution. In the coming 10 years, revising the Constitution will not be on the political agenda. In this sense, people protected the postwar regime through their votes in the Upper House election.