Shinzo Abe has for the first time laid out a clear timetable for revision of Japan’s pacifist constitution, scheduling the landmark change — his most cherished ambition — for the Tokyo Olympic year of 2020.
In a signal of the prime minister’s resolve on an issue that splits Japan, his comments emerged yesterday on Constitution Memorial Day, the national holiday marking the promulgation of a document that has shaped Japan’s domestic and international politics since 1947.
“I want to make 2020 the year that a new constitution comes into effect,” Mr Abe told a private symposium in a video message, the contents of which were reported by Japanese media. “We have reached a point where we have to start discussions in more concrete terms in order to present the public with a proposal for revision to the constitution.”