Legacy project: Japan's parliament
① Lawmakers return to the Diet today for a 150-day session likely to be dominated by a battle over the constitution.
② Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants parliament to end the unconstitutional status of the Self Defence Forces by writing them into Article 9.
③ This clause bans Japan from maintaining land, sea or air forces.
④ The SDF, one of the world's most powerful armies, plainly violates this ban, but Japanese governments have long pretended that it does not.
⑤ Amending it would delight conservatives who have long seen the constitution, adopted in 1947 during the American occupation, as a humiliation.
⑥ But Mr Abe faces an uphill fight.
⑦ To win a majority in both houses of parliament and pass a national referendum, his Liberal Democratic Party must carry along its reluctant coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed Komeito.
⑧ Failure would almost certainly cost Mr Abe his job.
⑨ Worryingly for him, polls suggest public support for constitutional change is thin, and thinning.
▍生词好句
legacy /ˈlɛɡəsi/: n. 遗产
Diet /ˈdʌɪət/: n. 议会
diet: n. 饮食；节食
session /ˈsɛʃ(ə)n/: n. 会期；会议
dominate /ˈdɒmɪneɪt/: vt. 控制；统治；在……中占主要地位
be dominated by: 以……为主题的
unconstitutional /ˌʌnkɒnstɪˈtjuːʃ(ə)n(ə)l/: adj. 违反宪法的
status /ˈsteɪtəs, ˈstætəs/: n. 地位；状态
clause /klɔːz/: n. 条款；从句
plainly /ˈpleɪnli/: adv. 直截了当地；朴素地
adopt /əˈdɒpt/: vt. 正式通过；领养；提名；采取
humiliation /ˌhjuːmɪlɪˈeɪʃn/: n. 耻辱
face an uphill fight: 面临巨大的挑战
House of peers:（日本）上议院
House of representatives:（日本）下议院
coalition /ˌkəʊəˈlɪʃ(ə)n/: n. 联合
back /bak/: vt. 支持