<p class="title">Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition is set to win a solid majority in an upper house election later this week, keeping alive his dream to revise Japan's pacifist constitution, a survey showed on Monday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Abe's Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and its coalition partner Komeito together are on track to win as many as 83 seats, well over the 63 seats needed for a majority of the 124 seats to be contested on Sunday, the poll by the Nikkei business daily conducted late last week showed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Similar polls taken by other media outlets, including the Kyodo news agency, showed support for the LDP had increased to 31.0% of all respondents, up 2 percentage points from a similar poll last month. Support for Komeito was unchanged at 5.6%.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Such a showing could enable the ruling bloc and other smaller parties including the Japan Innovation Party, which support constitutional revisions, to maintain their "super majority", or two-thirds of the vote. Such a majority is needed to start the process of revising Japan's post-World War Two pacifist constitution.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Changing the constitution to enshrine the role of Japan's military, known as the Self-Defense Forces, has been a long-held goal for Abe, who has been prime minister and leader of the LDP since 2012.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Constitutional revisions require approval by two-thirds of both chambers of parliament and a majority in a public referendum.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Upper house elections are held every three years, with members' terms running for six years. The LDP won a landslide victory in 2013 but fared less well in 2016. (Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu Editing by Paul Tait)</p>
<p class="title">Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition is set to win a solid majority in an upper house election later this week, keeping alive his dream to revise Japan's pacifist constitution, a survey showed on Monday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Abe's Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and its coalition partner Komeito together are on track to win as many as 83 seats, well over the 63 seats needed for a majority of the 124 seats to be contested on Sunday, the poll by the Nikkei business daily conducted late last week showed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Similar polls taken by other media outlets, including the Kyodo news agency, showed support for the LDP had increased to 31.0% of all respondents, up 2 percentage points from a similar poll last month. Support for Komeito was unchanged at 5.6%.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Such a showing could enable the ruling bloc and other smaller parties including the Japan Innovation Party, which support constitutional revisions, to maintain their "super majority", or two-thirds of the vote. Such a majority is needed to start the process of revising Japan's post-World War Two pacifist constitution.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Changing the constitution to enshrine the role of Japan's military, known as the Self-Defense Forces, has been a long-held goal for Abe, who has been prime minister and leader of the LDP since 2012.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Constitutional revisions require approval by two-thirds of both chambers of parliament and a majority in a public referendum.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Upper house elections are held every three years, with members' terms running for six years. The LDP won a landslide victory in 2013 but fared less well in 2016. (Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu Editing by Paul Tait)</p>