Japan to Ease Army Ban on Fighting Overseas

The announcement, expected on Tuesday and seen as the biggest shift in defence policy since the end of World War Two, would end a ban on exercising "collective self-defense" or helping a friendly country under attack.

The proposal does not change the words of a US-drafted charter, rather the way the words are interpreted.

The charter, which has not been revised since it was adopted after Japan's 1945 defeat, only allows force for self-defence.

The proposal would relax limits on activities in UN-led peace-keeping operations and "grey zone" incidents that fall short of full-scale war, according to a draft cabinet resolution.

In the capital, Tokyo, people gathered in front of the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's official residence to protest the plan to expand its military role abroad.

Hundreds of protesters, including pensioners and labour union members, marched carrying banners and shouting, "Don't destroy Article 9" and "We're against war".

"I'm against the right of collective-self defence, but more importantly, I'm against the way Abe is pushing this change through," said 21-year-old university student Misa Machimura.

On Sunday, a man set himself on fire near a busy Tokyo intersection - a rare form of protest in Japan - after speaking out against Abe's re-interpretation of Article 9.

Public opinion is divided on the proposed rule, and leading newspapers like the Asahi Shimbun have voiced opposition.

"This is pretty much a done deal," Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett, reporting from Tokyo, said, adding that the partners of the ruling coalition have also approved the change.  

"This represents an extremely big shift in the way that Japan sees its military."

Long constrained by its pacifist post-war constitution, Japan's armed forces will gain an expanded range of military options, although the government would likely remain wary of putting boots on the ground in multilateral operations such as the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.