Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae, fresh off an astounding victory in snap elections for the lower house of parliament last week, said on Monday she would like to reopen discussions about amending the Japanese Constitution through a national referendum.

“The constitution expresses the ideal form of the nation,” she noted. “I’m determined to create an environment in which a national referendum on revising the constitution can be held as soon as possible.”

Takaichi is a member of Japan’s long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) – which, contrary to its name, is the more conservative of Japan’s major parties. The LDP fell on very hard times over the past few years, through a combination of public displeasure with the economy and a wide-ranging political corruption scandal.

LDP lost its majority in the lower house of parliament in October 2024, for the first time in 15 years, and two of its prime ministers resigned in swift succession. For the first time in the postwar era, it seemed possible LDP could lose its dominant position in Japanese politics.

That all changed with the coming of Takaichi Sanae, who became Japan’s first female prime minister in October 2025. Her victory in the prime ministerial race was hard-won, but she quickly became the fastest-rising star Japan had seen in generations, developing a stratospheric level of personal popularity – even as ratings for her party remained poor.

Takaichi took a huge political gamble by dissolving the lower house and calling for snap elections in January, openly speaking of her desire to give voters another chance to consider her agenda and vote for, or against, her plans. 

“I believe that the only option is for the people, as sovereign citizens, to decide whether or not Sanae Takaichi should be prime minister,” she said, risking the office she had won only a few months before.

Her gamble paid off handsomely in the February 8 elections, delivering 310 of the 456 seats in the lower house to her party. With the public clearly behind her, and her moribund party revived, Takaichi decided to return to the prickly subject of amending the national constitution.

In Japan, the amendment process calls for every party in parliament to submit their draft amendments to the Constitutional Commissions, one in each house. Both chambers must then approve any given amendment with a two-thirds majority before it goes to the public in a national referendum, which must be held within 60 to 180 days. The amendment passes if it wins a majority of the popular vote. 

The Constitutional Commissions in both houses of parliament have a great deal of influence over the amendment process, and Takaichi was outspokenly critical of opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) leader Edano Yukio holding the chairmanship of the commission in the lower house. Edano had a habit of diverting amendment discussions away from the issues LDP wanted to cover.

LDP’s two major amendment proposals are establishing the constitutional status of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) and extending terms for lawmakers during national emergencies.

The JSDF, which was established in 1954, is not mentioned in the current constitution, which was written in 1946. This leaves the Japanese military with an uncertain legal status, especially since Article 9 of the constitution “renounces war” and forbids Japan from maintaining land, sea, or air forces.

The JSDF only exists because the Japanese government interpreted Article 9 to mean there could be no standing army, navy, or air force geared toward offensive military operations, but the nation could maintain some purely defensive units as a deterrence to potential attackers.

This arrangement suits the pacifist inclinations of many modern Japanese citizens, but with the coming of the War on Terror and Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, it became difficult to argue that Japan could effectively defend itself with the small, purely defensive, and legally all-but-nonexistent JSDF.

Conservatives like Takaichi believe that Japan can only be secure if potential adversaries know it can project military power, instead of just passively waiting for enemies to violate the airspace of the home islands. China went berserk in November when the newly-elected Prime Minister Takaichi said her country would regard an attack on Taiwan as a “situation threatening Japan’s survival” – the magic words that would legally allow the JSDF to act in Taiwan’s defense if China invades.

The other major amendment favored by LDP, extending the terms of lawmakers in times of emergency, is also designed to enhance Japan’s political stability during a time of war

To date, Japan has never actually passed a constitutional amendment, but that might be about to change. Surveys taken this week showed that 93 percent of the winners in the last legislative election support revising the constitution, the first time support over 90 percent has been recorded. Fully 99 percent of LDP lawmakers are in favor, and even in the party most opposed, the Centrist Reform Alliance, support stands at 58 percent.

The amendment to codify the status of the JSDF also has over 90 percent support, while the one for extending lawmakers’ terms under emergency conditions is considerably less popular, earning approval from only 64 percent of the winning candidates.

The upper house of parliament is significantly less enthusiastic about amending the constitution. The next upper house election is scheduled for 2028, and Japanese officials say it is unlikely a constitutional amendment could be passed before then.