Asia

Ultraconservative lobby backs Japan PM charter change drive

Associated Press
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Tadae Takubo, chairman of Nippon Kaigi, speaks during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo, Wednesday, July 13, 2016. Nippon Kaigi, an influential Japanese political lobby, said it will do its utmost to capitalize on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's election victory to push for a constitutional revision for a more active military role. Takubo said that the war-renouncing constitution that makes Japan's defense "defective" needs to be corrected. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) (The Associated Press)

Tadae Takubo, chairman of Nippon Kaigi, gestures while speaking during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo, Wednesday, July 13, 2016. Nippon Kaigi, an influential Japanese political lobby, said it will do its utmost to capitalize on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's election victory to push for a constitutional revision for a more active military role. Takubo said that the war-renouncing constitution that makes Japan's defense "defective" needs to be corrected. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) (The Associated Press)

Tadae Takubo, chairman of Nippon Kaigi, speaks during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo, Wednesday, July 13, 2016. Nippon Kaigi, an influential Japanese political lobby, said it will do its utmost to capitalize on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's election victory to push for a constitutional revision for a more active military role. Takubo said that the war-renouncing constitution that makes Japan's defense "defective" needs to be corrected. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) (The Associated Press)

An influential Japanese political lobby says it will do its utmost to capitalize on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's election victory to push for a constitutional revision for a more active military role.

Tadae Takubo, chairman of Nippon Kaigi, said Wednesday that the war-renouncing constitution that makes Japan's defense "defective" needs to be corrected.

Abe's election gains in the upper house over the weekend mean his party can now cobble together the crucial two-thirds majority in both houses it needs to propose a revision and put it to a referendum.