Constitutional change is an issue dear to her, as it was to Abe, but she should be careful not to focus on it at the expense of more urgent matters. There is nothing intrinsically unreasonable about wanting to amend a constitution drawn up by Japan’s conquerors in the 1940s, and doing so would demonstrate the nation’s ability to evolve. But the LDP’s desire to tinker with the “peace clause” to formally recognise Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, and to give the prime minister potentially sweeping powers in times of emergency, is potentially deeply divisive.