The parliamentary debate on constitutional reform is making little headway two years after it formally began in both Houses of the Diet. The Constitutional Research Committee, created in both Houses in 2000 to make a comprehensive review of the national charter, is expected to submit a report in 2005. At the moment, however, it is difficult to predict how the debate will develop over the next few years.
At first glance, the committee appears to be moving forward. Earlier this month, the committee in the Lower House finished plenary discussions on all four key subjects, including "guarantee of basic human rights," and started more detailed discussions at the subcommittee level. Meanwhile, the counterpart committee in the Upper House is expected to wind up deliberations on "popular sovereignty and state machinery" and begin considering a new subject around April.
In reality, however, the debate is low-key. It is true, as indicated by media polls, that a trend toward constitutional revision is taking root. But there is no groundswell of public opinion in favor of rewriting the supreme law. In an effort to invigorate public discussions, members of the Lower House Constitutional Research Committee, including Chairman Taro Yamanaka, who also heads a suprapartisan constitutional study group (excluding the Communist and Social Democratic parties), are moving to introduce a bill for holding a national referendum on constitutional amendments.