The Constitutional Revision Research Project seeks to follow, analyze, and document constitutional discussion in Japan.

September 16, 2026

The Centrist Reform Alliance (49 members of the House of Representatives) held a general meeting of its lawmakers in the Diet on September 16 and approved the departure of 20 members affiliated with the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and 28 members affiliated with Komeito. Jinya Ogawa, the alliance’s leader, announced that the new party to be formed by the Constitutional Democratic-affiliated lawmakers would be named the “Democratic Reform Association (民主改革の会).” [...] The Komeito-affiliated lawmakers are expected to return to their former party by the following week, effectively bringing the Centrist Reform Alliance to an end. [...]

_{*The Centrist Reform Alliance had advocated discussing constitutional amendments alongside measures to maintain the functioning of the Diet during peacetime, including restrictions on the prime minister’s power to dissolve the House of Representatives and specifying a deadline for convening an extraordinary session of the Diet (see: 2026 Constitution Memorial Day Statement).}