Almost half those planning to run in next month's pivotal Upper House election oppose Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to revise the war-renouncing Constitution, a Kyodo News survey has found.
The survey also said more than 60 percent of the likely candidates for the July 10 contest believe revitalizing the economy should be the nation's top priority.
Kyodo sent questionnaires to 351 prospective candidates. Of the 309 who responded, 46.6 percent said they oppose the Abe administration's vows to revise the national charter, comments widely seen as referring to his goal of scrapping war-renouncing Article 9. About 34.6 percent said they support the move.