In a speech at the Defense Ministry on Monday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signaled his resolve to amend the Constitution to ensure the legitimacy of the Self-Defense Forces.
"Arranging an environment where all SDF personnel can fulfill their duties with strong pride is the responsibility of politicians living in the present," he said to some 180 senior officers ahead of his party's leadership election later this month. "I am determined to fully carry out my duty."
However, he stopped short of directly mentioning his goal of making Japan's first revisions ever to the charter as he addressed the SDF's top brass. The supreme law took effect in 1947.