TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called for advanced discussions on revising Article 9 of the country's pacifist constitution during an official visit to Vietnam. The article forbids Japan from threatening or using military force to settle international disputes.

"We mustn't have discussion just for discussion's sake. To retain the trust placed in them by the people, politicians must discuss the issue and make a decision," Takaichi said, according to Kyodo news agency.

Japan's constitution was written by U.S. occupation forces after the Second World War and went into effect on 3 May 1947. Its wording has remained unchanged since then. Any constitutional revision would require a two-thirds majority in both houses of the national diet and a simple majority in a national referendum. Legislation passed a decade ago theoretically allows Japan to exercise collective self-defense.

Takaichi, who became prime minister in autumn 2023, cited Article 9 in March to decline a request by U.S. President Donald Trump to send Japan's maritime self-defense forces to the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has criticized Japan for not sending troops to the Middle East.

An estimated 50,000 people gathered at a park in Tokyo on 3 May in support of the pacifist constitution, with demonstrations held in dozens of other towns and cities on the same public holiday. An estimated 3,600 people demonstrated outside the national parliament in late February, followed later that month by a gathering of an estimated 36,000.

"Under Takaichi, Japan is following America like a dog follows its owner," said Hiroko Maekawa, a councillor for a Tokyo ward. "The LDP wants to turn the self-defence forces into a traditional military, because they know the constitution, as it is, prevents them from doing that," she added.

At the Tokyo gathering, supporter Haruka Watanabe spoke about preserving the document. "I want to cherish the constitution like I do my own child, and pass it on to the next generation," Watanabe said.

In a Yomiuri Shimbun poll, 57% of respondents were in favour of revising the constitution. In a survey by Asahi Shimbun, 47% of respondents supported constitutional reform.