Abe urges revision of constitution
By Takehiko Kambayashi THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Despite a series of money and sex scandals involving his top aides, Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe has continued to push for his nation's more active international
role by revising Japan's pacifist constitution.
On Wednesday as Japan marked the 60th anniversary of its U.S.-imposed constitution, Mr.
Abe, the first prime minister born after World War II, said at a ceremony he wants a
public debate on changing the constitution.
(大幅略)
Despite his strong start, Mr. Abe's popularity slipped due to sex and money scandals and his
weak leadership. Some analysts suggested that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has lost
its support even in the provinces, the ruling party's traditional stronghold.
In rural Fukushima prefecture, Teruhiko Mashiko, a member of the Democratic Party of Japan,
the largest opposition party, won in a landslide over Isamu Yamaguchi backed by the LDP
and its junior coalition partner, New Komeito.
"More and more people in the provinces have begun to turn their back on the national
government," said Minoru Morita, a Tokyo-based political analyst who gives about 300
lectures per year, many of which are held outside Tokyo.
Mr. Abe, a nationalist and staunch conservative, continues to work on changing the
constitution, though more people are concerned about the widening economic gap, a
looming welfare crisis and Japan's shrinking population, according to analysts and
opinion surveys. But critics say he failed to articulate his policy in his own words.
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