A s the 150-day ordinary Diet session kicked off Monday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered his first policy speech since becoming prime minister following the Liberal Democratic Party's victory in the Dec. 16 Lower House election. He said Japan is facing crises with regard to the economy, damage from the 3/11 disasters, diplomacy and education. He pledged to do his best to resolve these crises.

Conspicuously he avoided mention of his controversial ideas of changing the government's interpretation of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution so that Japan can exercise the right to collective self-defense and revising Article 9 itself.

His policy speech this time departed from the one in 2006 during his first stint as prime minister. At the time, he stressed Japan's historical, cultural and traditional values and his ambition to revise the Constitution.