Overview
- At the LDP convention, party members backed submitting draft constitutional amendments, and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she wants a clear prospect by next year’s party meeting.
- The LDP holds a two-thirds majority in the lower house, crossing the threshold to advance amendment proposals without help from other parties.
- Analysts see Article 9, which renounces war and the use of force, as the most likely and most contentious target, a shift Washington would likely welcome and Beijing would condemn.
- Past party ideas for revisions also include emergency powers, electoral map changes, and education policy updates.
- Japan’s US-written 1947 constitution has never been amended, so any change would be the first and would test voter support in a national referendum.