TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government and ruling party are close to a consensus on the need to ease the pacifist constitution's constraints on the military's ability to fight alongside allies abroad, but have yet to persuade their junior coalition partner to agree to the historic change.
Allowing Japan's Self-Defense Forces to aid the United States or other friendly nations under attack would mark a major turning point for Japan's post-war pacifism and its military, which has not fired a shot in conflict since World War Two.
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