TOKYO — Japan took a first step yesterday toward shedding the pacifist status it has maintained since World War II when its new government established a defense task force amid the threat of a nuclear-armed North Korea.

Prime Minister Abe announced plans to establish the equivalent of America’s national security council, a body that will advise him directly on security issues and strengthen his position in deciding foreign policy.

Mr. Abe, 52, who took office in September, is considered to be a nationalist who feels that Japan should have stronger leadership and play a bigger role in the world. The premier has stressed that he is Japan’s first prime minister born after World War II. The implication is that he is leading Japan into a new era in which its policies will not be dictated by remorse over its wartime past.

A task force of 14 senior figures, to be headed by Mr. Abe, will meet next week to prepare for the creation of a Japanese national security council.

Mr. Abe has already created a new position of national security adviser in his first cabinet, modeled on the White House system in which the American president has a Cabinet-level colleague to advise on security. Mr. Abe has also said he believes that Japan should create an intelligence service — along the lines of the Central Intelligence Agency or MI5 — to help counter terrorist threats.

Article Nine of Japan’s post-war constitution, which was drawn up by the Americans, renounces the right to maintain arms or wage war. The constitution was intended to prevent Japan from threatening the peace of Asia. However, Japan’s leaders believe that their country is ready to play a positive role in boosting the security of the region.

Mr. Abe has signaled that he intends to create a new constitution suited to the Japan of the 21st century, including removing some of the constraints on Japan’s de facto military, the self-defense forces. The country also has a de facto navy, which is known as the coast guard.