The postwar Constitution of Japan, which was put into effect in 1947, will come up for formal and continuous debate for the first time in the ordinary Diet session that opens on Friday. It is unclear, however, whether the Constitutional Review Council -- which was created last year in both houses -- is seeking to rewrite the pacifist Constitution or whether it will only sort out issues involved while leaving open the possibility of an eventual revision.
The "debate only" approach seems more likely. Even proponents of a "new constitution" concede the dire difficulty of making amendments in the foreseeable future, citing the constitutional clause that requires "a concurring vote of two-thirds or more of all the members of each House."
It is also unclear how council reports will be presented. Opinion is divided over whether results of discussions should be consolidated to produce specific conclusions or merely summarized by stating pros and cons, and whether minority views, possibility extreme ones, should also be stated. These questions have been left unsettled deliberately -- for now at least -- because, if addressed at this point, they will delay or even derail the debate itself.