As the government emphasizes patriotism as part of the national school curriculum and discussion continues apace over revising Article 9, some LDP lawmakers are now calling for changes to the Constitution that may put equal rights and individual freedom at risk.

The ongoing discussion on revising the Constitution has grown to include calls for amendments to Article 24 -- the clause protecting equality of the sexes in postwar Japan -- in a bid to lock family values into Japan's legal and social framework at the expense of individual freedom.

Last June, an LDP Constitution revision panel introduced a model plan to revise Article 24, which took effect in May 1947, "from the viewpoint of stressing the value of family and community."