Around 50,000 people gathered in Tokyo on May 3 — Constitution Day — to protest the government's attempts to amend Japan's pacifist constitution, according to The Guardian. The demonstration was held in central Tokyo.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last week during a visit to Vietnam called for “expanded debate” on revising the country's fundamental law. She claimed that the constitution, written by the U.S. administration during the occupation of Japan after World War II, “should be periodically updated to meet the demands of the times.”

Takaichi and other conservative members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party have long pushed for amendments. They argue that the current document limits Japan's ability to respond to growing security threats from North Korea and China. Specifically, they propose changing Article 9, which renounces war and prohibits Japan from using military force to settle international disputes.

Any constitutional amendment requires approval by two-thirds of both houses of Japan's parliament and a simple majority in a national referendum.

Recent polls indicate that a majority of the public supports partial revision, including recognition of the legal status of the Self-Defense Forces, but opposes a radical overhaul of Japan's post-war pacifism.

Japan's current constitution came into effect on May 3, 1947, and has never been amended.

On April 20, about 36,000 people gathered outside Japan's parliament building in Tokyo demanding the preservation of Article 9.

Source: www.gazeta.uz