"Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution reads: ""Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes. In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognised.""
In 2017, then-Prime Minister Abe Shinzo proposed an amendment to Article 9. The proposed amendment would keep the existing clauses as is and add a third clause that would unambiguously legitimise the constitutionality of the (existing) Japan Self-Defense Force. Abe resigned in 2020 citing poor health. Article 9 is yet to be amended."