The 2004 policy platform of the Liberal Democratic Party advocates drafting a revised Constitution before the party's 50th anniversary in November 2005, LDP sources said Tuesday.
The platform, made available by the sources before its adoption at an LDP convention on Jan. 16, also features plans to use the constitutional draft, along with public hearings on the revision, to stimulate national debate on the matter.
The platform's initial draft had stated that the party would strive to obtain a majority in the 247-seat House of Councilors in July's Upper House election.
This plank was dropped, however, at the behest of Mikio Aoki, the LDP's secretary general in the upper chamber.
Aoki may have been seeking to give consideration to New Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner.
The platform endorses visits by LDP lawmakers to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine.
It features plans to enact a permanent law for international cooperation that would replace present legislation on cooperating in U.N. peacekeeping operations and for assisting Iraq in its reconstruction.
It calls for a bill to be introduced this year to allow Japan to impose economic sanctions on North Korea as part of efforts to resolve problems regarding the abduction of Japanese nationals.