It is regarding it as its basic strategy for winning the July Diet election to rally conservative forces through the society's lurch to the ultra-right.

The prime minister openly chanted the slogan "Long live the emperor", stirring up an atmosphere of militarism in the "era of empire". Visits of ministers and lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties to Yasukuni Shrine have become more frequent.

The so-called "ceremony for restoring sovereignty" has been held in Japan as a non-governmental event of right-wing organizations for 17 years. But it was held at a governmental level for the first time this year. The Abe cabinet has become more undisguised in its attempt to revise the Constitution.

Before and after taking office as prime minister, Abe said "he would begin his work by revising Article 96 of the Constitution". At a press conference held on April 19 he expressed again his will to revise the article aimed to ease the necessary requirements for proposing the revision of the Constitution. Abe's intention to rewrite the relevant article defining the norms for the constitutional revision is aimed to revise Article 9, the core article of the Constitution by lowering the threshold of the revision. Article 9 bans Japan from possessing combat forces and exercising the right to participate in a war and that to collective self-defense. Its revision would make it possible for Japan to have a war constitution and help provide a legal and institutional mechanism for turning Japan into a military giant and launching overseas aggression. Then, Japan will be able to send its aggression forces to any region of the world for military operations, unhindered by its domestic l

aw.

It is the scenario of the present Japanese ruling forces to liquidate the "Pacifist Constitution" by rewriting Article 96 and totally revising Article 9. Now no one would question in which direction Japan is going.

What matters is that the ultra-right conservative forces are exercising ever-increasing influence on the process of veering to the Right and that of turning itself into a military giant.

The ultra-right forces of Japan are desperately pushing forward the process to consolidate the power and fascistize the society, going beyond the phase of exercising influence on the authorities' policy making. A war constitution may appear in Japan any time.

Japan's rapid lurch to the ultra-right means, in essence, the conversion into a war state.

The militarist ambition of the Japanese rightist reactionaries is expanding worldwide, going beyond East Asia.

The danger of war is increasing day by day due to these rightist reactionaries who openly call for reviving the "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere." This is posing a great threat to global peace and security.

Revived Japanese militarism is bound to bring a horrible war disaster again not only to Asia but to the rest of the world.

The despicable behavior of the Abe government pushing Japan's society to the ultra-right is arousing serious caution and concern among the people of countries and regions in East Asia and the rest of the world.