Peace out: is Takaichi putting Japan’s pacifist constitution on the chopping block?

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is pursuing the first ever revision of her country’s post-World War II pacifist constitution, a step that observers say is likely to be welcomed in Washington and condemned in Beijing.

Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secured a historic two-thirds majority in the National Diet’s lower house in February’s election, passing the threshold needed to pass constitutional amendments without other parties’ support.

“An independent constitutional amendment by the hands of the Japanese people is our party’s long-cherished goal,” Takaichi said at the LDP’s annual convention on Monday. Among the policies adopted at the event is the goal of submitting draft amendments to legislature.

“I want to greet next year’s party convention with a clear prospect for proposing an amendment.”

Takaichi did not specify which parts she wants to revise, but the most likely – and controversial – move would be to change Article 9, under which Japan renounces war and the use of force in international disputes. Other potential amendments proposed by the LDP in the past include emergency powers, electoral district changes and education reforms.

Japan’s post-war constitution was written mainly by US officials and has remained unchanged since coming into force in 1947.

The LDP, which has been in power nearly continuously since its founding in 1955, has always advocated changing the constitution.

South China Morning Post