With last month's Lower House passage of bills covering the updated Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines as a backdrop, the nation on Monday celebrated the 52nd anniversary of the postwar Constitution with heated debate over the document itself.
At Sabo Kaikan hall in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, some conservative lawmakers and scholars stressed the need to revise the Constitution to regain Japan's national identity, pride and patriotism.
Nobuyuki Hanashi and Takao Koyama of the Liberal Democratic Party and Taichiro Nishikawa of the Liberal Party urged that an investigative Diet committee be created to look into revising the Constitution to fit the times.