TOKYO: More than half of all Japanese feel their constitution should be revised, but only around one-third believe a key article renouncing war should be changed, according to an opinion poll published this week. Efforts to revise the US-drafted constitution, unchanged since its adoption in 1947, have gained momentum as Japan seeks a bigger global security role and conservative politicians grow irritated with the limits imposed by pacifist Article Nine.

According to a Kyodo news agency survey conducted on Monday and Tuesday, 61 per cent of the 1,021 respondents said they supported revising the constitution against 29.8 per cent who disagreed.

However, only 31.3 per cent favoured revision of Article Nine, which renounces the right to war as a means of resolving international disputes, while 41.3 per cent were against it.

Changing the constitution is sensitive both politically and diplomatically, with neighbouring nations such as China and North and South Korea, which suffered from Japan’s wartime aggression, watching warily.

Even lawmakers disagree on some points, underlining the issue’s sensitivity.

Last week a Japanese parliamentary panel ended five years of debate on reforming the document split over whether it was necessary to mention Japan’s military in the constitution and, if so, how to define it, media said.—Reuters