Thousands of Japanese took to the streets on May 3 to express their support or disapproval of revising the nation's decades-old constitution, mainly focused on the Article 9 concerning Japan's military role.

In the Hibiya Park, about 5,000 people, including lawmakers from the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), gathered in protest against moves to revise the constitution. The two opposition parties are against any constitutional revision.

Mizuho Fukushima, chief of the SDP, hailed Monday's gathering as a "step forward to prevent the constitution from being revised."

The demonstrators also urged the government to withdraw the troops deployed in Iraq as the operation is unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, in a mass meeting held by a pro-constitutional amendment group, Kazuo Aichi, who headed the group, expressed the hope that discussions would proceed on the creation of a new constitution.

"The focus is no longer on whether we should protect or revise the Constitution but what should be the contents of a new constitution," said Aichi, a former chief of the Defense Agency.

Monday is the 57th anniversary of the institution of Japan's pacifist constitution. Debate is heating up as to whether the basic law made by the United States after the World War II should be revised. The focal point is the Article 9 which makes clear that Japan shall not keep military forces and eschew from warfare.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is a firm advocator of amending the constitution. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had said he favors revising the name of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to formally turn it into an army. The party also intends to have SDF play a more active role in international peacekeeping activities.

Japan's ambition to revive its military role has aroused concerns both at home and abroad, evoking atrocities of the Japanese militarism in World War II.

A survey by the leading Mainichi Shimbun showed Monday that 78 percent of Japanese lawmakers are in favor of revising the constitution. Although 57 percent of them support changing the name of the SDF, 78 percent said they oppose to revising the clause of abandoning warfare.