PM Abe's party eyes revision of Japan pacifist constitution by late 2018

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe walks after meeting China's President Xi Jinping at a bilateral meeting during the Asian-African Conference in Jakarta April 22, 2015. REUTERS/Beawiharta

TOKYO (Reuters) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling party wants to revise Japan's constitution by late 2018 to remove constraints on his defence strategy, a key party lawmaker said, an ambitious target since the charter has not been changed since Americans drafted it after World War Two.

Abe has already stretched the post-war pacifist constitution with a dramatic shift in security policy that ends a ban on Japan's military fighting overseas.