Amending the Constitution, which has never been revised since it entered into force on 69 years ago on May 3, no longer appears to be a politically sensitive issue. Since the beginning of the year, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vocally championed constitutional change — even to the point of declaring that he hopes to achieve it while he's in office. He would not hesitate to openly suggest that he has his eyes set on revising the war-renouncing Article 9. Candid remarks by Abe and other senior members of his administration on the issue take on a tinge of reality because his Liberal Democratic Party and its allies are closer than ever to securing a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the Diet — the setting needed to initiate an amendment for approval by a national referendum — depending on the outcome of the Upper House election this summer.

But when it comes to specifics on what to change in the Constitution and how, there seems no solid political consensus, even among the LDP and its allies that either advocate or may condone an amendment. Even Abe, who suggested making constitutional revision a campaign issue in the Upper House race, has yet to come forward to specify what part of the Constitution should be changed, how and why, and ask for voters' endorsement — which he should if he is serious about amending it.

Public opinion remains sharply divided on whether the Constitution should be amended at all, with a broad consensus on specific amendments even more elusive. While the ruling bloc's dominance of the political landscape may provide a window of opportunity for the proponents of amendment, the time hardly seems ripe for revising the national charter.