Prime Minister Taro Aso apparently backpedaled Tuesday and said there was no possibility that he would try to change the interpretation of the Constitution to allow Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense.
The remark contrasts with the positive view he had on the contentious issue shortly after taking office in September.
It also comes just days after the firing of the Air Self-Defense Force chief of staff, who won ¥3 million in an essay contest for writing a piece promoting the use of that right and denying that Japan waged a war of aggression in the 1930s and '40s.