Sep. 18, 2015 - Updated 17:33 UTC
Japan's Diet has enacted a package of laws on national security. This marks historic changes to the security policy the country had maintained for decades.
Upper House lawmakers passed a set of bills to expand the role of the Self-Defense Forces, allowing the country to exercise its right to collective self-defense.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's coalition holds a majority in the upper chamber. Three minor opposition parties supported the proposals. The lower chamber had already approved the bills.
Opposition lawmakers fiercely debated the legislation and said more debate was needed. Some of them said the bills are unconstitutional and that the legislation could lead the nation into foreign wars.They tried several tactics to delay the vote such as filibustering and submitting no-confidence and censure motions against the prime minister and his senior aides. Some even walked at a snail's pace when casting their ballot.
But the opposition's efforts failed to prevent the bills from becoming law.