Japan public split on idea to cite military in constitution

TOKYO (AP) — Poll results released Monday show that about half of Japan's population supports a constitutional revision that would clarify the legality of the country's military, a new approach Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is proposing as his party struggles to gain public support for a change.

The party and its nationalistic supporters view the country's postwar constitution as the legacy of Japan's defeat in World War II and an imposition of the victor's world order and values weighing too much on individuals' rights.

The party-proposed revisions to the constitution released in 2012 called for upgrading the Self-Defense Forces to a full armed forces and establishing a military court.