Political changes in Japan: the era of Shinzō Abe and debate on amending the Constitution – overview at mid-year 2017

On May 3, 2017, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzō Abe announced his willingness to amend the Japan’s Constitution by 2020. This article presents an analysis of main issues related to PM’s statement, including:

• scope of considered amendments and their impact on Article 9,
• ratification chances and timeline for revision,
• reactions of main political party leaders,
• influence of emperor’s abdication,
• main risks of Abe’s plan failure.

The author takes also a closer look at recent drop in PM’s approval ratings and comes to the conclusion that the erosion of public trust could be a turning point not only for constitutional revision but also for Shinzō Abe’s future.

2019 – the start of a new era? Emperor Akihito`s abdication and its consequences

The article tries to analyze the reasons of Emperor Akihito`s abdication and to foresee changes it might imply both in terms of the name of the new era as well as in terms of regulations needed to be implemented in order to allow the monarch to step down from the throne. It explains in detail the process of introducing new abdication law by presenting different approaches of main political parties. Finally, it describes the future emperor – Naruhito providing the lecturers with assumptions about his upcoming reign.