Japan has taken the first major step toward rewriting its post-World War II pacifist constitution, a top priority for the conservative prime minister as the country seeks to carve out a larger global role.
The Japanese parliament has approved a bill outlining procedures for a referendum on the first revision of the US-imposed 1947 text, which says Japan forever renounces the right to wage war.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, an outspoken conservative and the first Japanese leader born after World War II, has made rewriting the constitution one of his top policy goals.
Japan already has one of the world's best-funded armed forces but calls them the 'Self-Defence Forces'.
Mr Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is working on the draft outline of a new constitution, although the legislation passed today says the referendum cannot take place before 2010.
The bill, which says a new constitution needs to be approved by a majority of voters, passed the upper house after clearing the lower house last month.
Some 200 pacifist and left-wing activists rallied in front of parliament today, protesting against the move.
Japan's top lawyers' group denounced the referendum bill, saying it lacked vital details such as setting a minimum turnout rate.
Support
Opinion polls have shown that the Japanese public supports the general idea of amending the constitution, although most voters also want the country to remain officially pacifist.
Prime Minister Abe says Japan should have a full-fledged military to allow it to assume a greater global role, including participating in peacekeeping operations abroad and cooperation with the US.
The main opposition Democratic Party supports a revision but voted against the legislation, saying a referendum should not be only about rewriting but also other issues facing Japan.
Constitutional revision could also rouse opposition in neighbouring countries which remain suspicious of Japan due to its wartime aggression.
Mr Abe has worked to repair ties with China and South Korea, and neither country protested when his government upgraded the post-WWII 'Defence Agency' to a full defence ministry in January.
'We live in an era in which we must debate drafting a new constitution amid calls for Japan to play a larger role in the international community,' Prime Minister Abe said late last week.
The prime minister says that the government can also simply change its interpretation of the constitution before the revision to allow 'collective self-defence' or the use of force to counter an attack on an ally.
One question the experts will consider is whether Japan could shoot down a North Korean missile heading over its territory to the US, an action forbidden under the current interpretation.
