Debate on constitutional referendum bill begins in upper house

The House of Councillors on Monday began debating a bill setting procedures to amend Japan's pacifist Constitution, which has been unrevised since coming into force in 1947. The governing coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito party called for an early enactment at a plenary session of the upper house, while opposition parties stressed the need for thorough deliberations.

The governing coalition's bill, revised in March in the course of deliberation, proposes that the referendum be held only for the purpose of constitutional revision and with eligible voters being Japanese citizens aged 18 and older. One of the focal points in a revision is Article 9, which says, "Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes."