Sixty years after the postwar pacifist Constitution was promulgated Nov. 3, 1946, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other politicians are pushing to revise the supreme law. Strangely, their call for constitutional revision comes amid a lack of enthusiasm for it among the public in general. Clearly, people don't feel a pressing need for constitutional revision.
What people want is concrete policy measures to deal with the social and economic problems they face. Devoting political energy to efforts to revise the Constitution will likely divert attention from the nation's mounting problems, such as the widening gap between rich and poor, a large number of nonregular workers, children's declining scholastic ability, bullying at school, and worries about pension and medical service including nursing care.
Although North Korea's nuclear-weapons program poses a security problem, this matter should be dealt with through joint diplomatic efforts involving Japan and other countries. Constitutional revision, a long process, would not directly contribute to solving it.