Saying that this is “In part, this is driven directly by Donald Trump,” is pure nonsense. Major government forces have been seeking to either remove Article 9 since at least the late 1990s, and Abe himself has been explicitly calling for it in public since 2007. Additionally, one of the most important forces trying to get Japan to re-arm and take a larger role in international military actions is the US, under several administrations.
And while it’s true that the majority of the population is opposed to any potential explicit revision to Article 9, it’s also true that the vast majority of Japanese people are mostly indifferent to politics. There have been more marches and other demonstrations on this issue than on most things since the 1960s, but for some reason that didn’t stop Abe’s party from achieving a complete sweep in the last elections (simple explanation is “it’s the economy, stupid” mentality).
