Revising the war-renouncing Constitution, which has not seen a single change since it was introduced in 1947, is increasingly becoming a possibility, although a public consensus is still elusive on the most sensitive issue of what to do with Article 9.
In the political arena, discussions by constitutional review research committees set up in both chambers of the Diet in 2000 are entering their final stage. Meanwhile, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan are working on their own drafts of revisions.
Public surveys show an increasing number of people are in favor of revising the Constitution, and voters are the last judge on the matter: Revising the Constitution requires a majority approval by the public following endorsement by two-thirds of the members of both the Upper and Lower houses.