The secretaries general and policy chiefs of New Komeito and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party officially agreed Monday to draft a bill to turn the Defense Agency into a ministry.
The bill will be submitted to the Diet early next year, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe indicated.
"We as the government would like to consider submitting the bill to the next Diet session," which starts in January, Abe said at a news conference.
The agreement was reached after the LDP's Buddhist-backed coalition partner basically gave in to the controversial plan on condition the Defense Agency's international security work be emphasized in the bill.
With New Komeito's go-ahead, the bill is almost certain to become law, and the agency could become a full-fledged ministry as early as next summer.
The defense body was set up as an agency rather than a ministry in 1954, reflecting the pacifist Constitution, which renounces the use of force to settle international disputes.
The movement to elevate it to a full ministry has been gathering steam among conservatives since the 1990s, when the Self-Defense Forces started becoming more internationally active. New Komeito has opposed attempts to upgrade the agency because its main support group, Soka Gakkai, a major lay Buddhist organization, is concerned it will cause the nation to lean once again to the right and toward war.
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