PM Abe wants Japan to end pacifism, rewrite constitution by 2020

Japan, which has so far been acting as a passive power under the shadow of the United States since the end of the Second World War plans to play a proactive role and rewrite its pacifist Constitution by 2020.

Prime minister Shinzo Abe, just back from a visit to Japan's controversial war memorial, said the country's pacifist post-World War II constitution which limits its military to self-defence, could be amended by 2020.

''As it has been 68 years since its enactment now, national debate should be further deepened toward a revision to grasp the changing times,'' he said.

Japan's constitution "will have been revised" by 2020, when Tokyo hosts the Summer Olympics, Abe said in a New Year comment published in the conservative daily Sankei Shimbun on Wednesday.

Abe's visit to the controversial Tokyo shrine of the war dead, which is widely seen as a symbol of Japan's militarist past, had enraged neighbouring China and South Korea and disappointed Washington.

''Now is the time for Japan to take a big step forward toward a new nation-building effort.''

"(By 2020), I think Japan will have completely restored its status and been making great contributions to peace and stability in the region and the world," Abe said.

Japan's elevated status could possibly help Asia become a ''balanced and stable region,'' he added.

Abe, who returned to power after a landslide win in an election last year, is increasingly facing the pressures of an assertive China on the economic and political fronts.

While Abe is focusing on improving the economy with stimulus packages, Tokyo is distracted by fierce territorial dispute by China over Tokyo-controlled islands, and Beijing's increasingly assertive military posture.

On his security policy, Abe said, ''We will resolutely protect to the end Japan's territorial land, sea and air.''