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Specifically, article nine declares that the Japanese people "forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes". The pacifist sentiment has shaped the thinking of postwar generations of Japanese and their governments.
At times, it has led to national loss of face, such as the agonising debate during the Gulf War about whether to commit forces. In the end, Tokyo decided to provide only cash, leading to Japan's international embarrassment.
Under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, there has been a subtle shift towards a more proactive role. Japan supplied ships to provide logistical support in the Indian Ocean to allied forces in the war in Afghanistan. But it was still well short of any active role.
This is why the Ishiba first-strike comments are so radical. The reason he has gone so far is that Japan is facing a threat - in North Korea - of the kind it has not experienced in the postwar period.
There is an argument in Japan and abroad that for Japan to fully be a member of the international community, it must assume responsibility for its own defence, rather than principally rely on the US.
If there is a moment for such a sea change in outlook, this is it. In recent weeks, Japan has been spooked by the possibility of an attack. The Japanese media has accurately focused on the country's vulnerability.
Even still, the first-strike comments will provoke deep Japanese soul-searching. But as the North Korean crisis worsens, Japan may have little choice but to make such a profound - and rapid - change in its thinking.
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