Japanese corporate executives doing business with China as well as diplomats stationed in Japan and neighboring countries are probably breathing a sigh of relief now that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has dialed down his hawkish stance from the campaign trail in December and has instead focused on stimulus measures to boost the sagging economy.

However, Abe appears to be pushing at least one of his pet conservative — and controversial — goals, even though he faces the all-important Upper House election this summer: reinterpreting the Constitution's war-renouncing Article 9 to reinforce the Japanese-U.S. military alliance.

"I will mull new ways to cope with the new security situation surrounding Japan," Abe said during a Diet session last week.