With Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe's formal announcement of candidacy in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election, the tripartite race between Mr. Abe, Foreign Minister Taro Aso and Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki has heated up. Given Mr. Abe's great popularity, it is likely that he will be elected as LDP president and consequently the next prime minister. Thus it is all the more important for both LDP members and the general public to carefully examine Mr. Abe's policy platform and the ideology behind it.

Mr. Abe's nationalist orientation is clear. In his platform, titled "A Beautiful Country -- Japan," "building a nation that cherishes its culture, traditions, nature and history" comes first. Under this same heading, he calls for revising the Constitution to make it one "that is conducive to a Japan that cuts open a new age," among other things. It is clear that he is targeting the pacifist principle of the Constitution embodied in the Preamble and the war-renouncing Article 9 -- a principle that has restrained Japan's military activities and helped it to gain a respected position in the international community.

Mr. Abe's antipathy toward the Constitution's Preamble has been expressed in his book "Toward a Beautiful Country," which plainly discloses his ideology. Certain phrases in the Constitution's Preamble -- "We have determined to preserve our security and existence, trusting in the justice and faith of the peace-loving peoples of the world" and "We desire to occupy an honored place in an international society, striving for the preservation of peace, and the banishment of tyranny and slavery, oppression and intolerance for all time from the earth"-- are characterized by Mr. Abe as a degrading "signed deed of apology" (wabi jomon) from Japan to the Allied Powers.