Op-ed: Japan's constitution is at a critical juncture 80 years later

Japan's Constitution, which on Tuesday marked 80 years since its promulgation, is at a watershed moment, with the ruling bloc leaning toward initiating the process of revising the supreme law for the first time ever. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its Japan Innovation Party ally are seeking to advance procedures for the Diet, the country's parliament, to propose an amendment to the Constitution, after the LDP and the JIP won far more than two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives, the Diet's lower chamber, in February's general election. [ . . . ] The LDP-JIP ruling coalition established a relevant committee and is working to draft constitutional articles. At the LDP's convention in April this year, Takaichi said, "I want to hold the 2027 party convention in a situation in which we can say we have been able to prepare the way for the Diet to propose constitutional amendment." But the LDP and the JIP remain far apart on priority issues and the wording of potential draft articles. The LDP's lawmakers in the upper and lower chambers are also divided.
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