Japanese Constitutional Revision Debate Expected to be Revived After LDP Secures Lower House Majority

The Yomiuri Shimbun

2:00 JST, February 12, 2026

Diet debates on Constitutional revision are likely to begin after the Liberal Democratic Party gained 316 seats in the House of Representatives election, exceeding the two-thirds in the lower house and meeting the requirement to propose an amendment to the Constitution at least there.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said at a press conference Monday, “I am determined to persistently work toward initiating a bill to amend the Constitution so that a national referendum can be held as soon as possible.”

The LDP has constitutional revision as a party line. In 2018, it compiled a four-point draft of the constitutional amendments which proposed a stipulation of the legal status of the Self-Defense Forces, an article about emergency measures, dissolving merged prefectural electoral districts in House of Councillors elections and improving education.

Last October, the Japan Innovation Party, which advocates constitutional revision, replaced Komeito, which is deeply cautious about amending Article 9 of the Constitution, as the LDP’s coalition partner.

Though the ruling bloc still lacks a majority in the upper house, it aims to regain control of the lower house’s Commission on the Constitution’s chairmanship from the opposition bloc and take the lead in debates. The coalition agreement between the LDP and the JIP stipulates that they shall “establish a standing committee for drafting new articles [of the Constitution] in both houses’ commissions on the Constitution as soon as possible.”

In the upcoming special Diet session, lawmakers are expected to hold debates on bills incorporating policies prioritized by the prime minister. Takaichi has said the establishment of a national intelligence agency to strengthen Japan’s capabilities of gathering and analyzing information is one of her “policies which can evenly divide public opinion.”

At the press conference Monday, Takaichi expressed her intention to submit relevant bills, including one on establishing a Japanese version of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which will screen foreign capitals’ investments in Japanese companies.

Meanwhile, although not mentioned at the press conference, consideration is also being given to submitting a bill to legalize the use of maiden names for those who changed their surname upon marriage. This bill is based on a proposal Takaichi had made before becoming prime minister.

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, which aim to introduce a system of selective separate surnames for married couples, have shown a cautious stance toward Takaichi’s proposal.

A senior LDP member said, “The LDP’s landslide victory in the lower house election has created an environment conducive for submitting the bills.”