The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is now entering a critical phase of debate on what has been one of the most contentious political issues throughout the postwar years: whether and how the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution should be revised.

Masahiko Komura, vice president of the LDP, has said he hopes the party will draw up a draft proposal to revise Article 9 and form a party consensus by March 25, when the party's annual convention is scheduled to be held.

But technical discussions on the proposed wording of the article are very difficult for the general public to fully understand, and average Japanese voters probably don't appreciate all of the detailed legal issues.