ABSTRACT
For the most part, Japanese politicians believe revision of the constitution and the removal or amending of Article Nine to be a political impossibility because of the disruption such an action would cause and its dubious chances for success. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s September 11, 2005, landslide election victory may embolden constitutional reformers as the LDP and its coalition partner, Komeito, now have a clear two-thirds majority in the lower house of the Diet. While Prime Minister Koizumi might see constitutional revision as beyond the scope of his mandate, there certainly will be some impetus to at least attempt constitutional reform at some level. Nonetheless, even without a wholesale revision of the constitution, change is taking place in Japanese foreign policy. Five sources of this change are seen in Japan as having caused this restructuring.
