Abe's desire to pursue constitutional change risks alienating public

With his second three-year term as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party expiring in Sept 2018, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has set himself the goal of revising the country's Constitution in the next two and a half years.

Abe unveiled his intention at the House of Councilors Budget Committee on Wednesday, although he was reticent about how he planned to rewrite the Constitution.

Following Japan's unconditional surrender to the Allied powers, the Japanese government introduced the so-called peace Constitution that eliminates a standing army and renounces war.