It's a surprise attack!

Opposition lawmakers piled on top of one another during the mass brawl, with some trying to grab the committee chairman's microphone to prevent him calling a vote on the controversial bill.

A senior opposition leader later said they would not accept the vote, which happened without them knowing. 

If passed, the bill will allow Japanese troops to defend their allies oversees even if Japan itself isn't under attack. Currently article nine of Japan's constitution - which came into force after the Second World War - outlaws war as a means to settle international disputes involving the state. 

In scenes uncommon for Japan's normally sedate parliament, the suited committee members lashed out at each other, pushing and shoving in a huge scrum in the second melee of the day.

But the mad-dash tactics, which came after hours of tortuous debate, failed to stop them from being approved as members of the ruling coalition stood up to signify their votes in favour.

The bills, which could see Japanese troops fighting abroad for the first time since the Second World War, are now expected to go to the full upper house later today or tomorrow, where they will likely be passed to become law.

Some 500 protesters braved wet weather to gather outside parliament in plastic raincoats waving their umbrellas and shouting 'stop the bills' as the committee debate rumbled on inside.

Some held up pictures of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with a Hitler haircut and moustache.

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to vent their anger during almost daily rallies over the past weeks, a show of public feeling on a scale rarely seen in Japan.

(dailymail.co.uk)