Misplaced Pages

#538461

45-724: In 2017, the National Diet changed the law to enable the Emperor Akihito to abdicate within three years. With this change, he abdicated on 30 April 2019 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Naruhito on 1 May 2019. The Imperial Household Law was passed during the Shōwa era on January 16, 1947, by the last session of the Imperial Diet. This law superseded the Imperial Household Law of 1889, which had enjoyed co-equal status with

90-448: A quorum and deliberations are in public unless at least two-thirds of those present agree otherwise. Each house elects its own presiding officer who casts the deciding vote in the event of a tie. The Diet has parliamentary immunity . Members of each house have certain protections against arrest while the Diet is in session and arrested members must be released during the term of the session if

135-622: A bill must be first passed by both houses of the Diet and then promulgated by the Emperor . This role of the Emperor is similar to the Royal Assent in some other nations; however, the Emperor cannot refuse to promulgate a law and therefore his legislative role is merely a formality. The House of Representatives is the more powerful chamber of the Diet. While the House of Representatives cannot usually overrule

180-406: A different method; the main difference between the houses is in the sizes of the two groups and how they are elected. Voters are also asked to cast two votes: one for an individual candidate in a constituency, and one for a party list. Any national of Japan at least 18 years of age may vote in these elections, reduced from age 20 in 2016. Japan's parallel voting system ( mixed-member majoritarian )

225-477: A result of these early conflicts, public opinion of politicians was not favorable. The Imperial Diet consisted of a House of Representatives and a House of Peers ( 貴族院 , Kizoku-in ) . The House of Representatives was directly elected, if on a limited franchise; universal adult male suffrage was introduced in 1925 when the Universal Manhood Suffrage Law was passed, but excluded women, and

270-405: A secret ballot. It also insists that the electoral law must not discriminate in terms of "race, creed, sex, social status, family origin, education, property or income". Generally, the election of Diet members is controlled by statutes passed by the Diet. This is a source of contention concerning re-apportionment of prefectures' seats in response to changes of population distribution. For example,

315-713: Is a Japanese politician who is serving as the Speaker of the House of Representatives since October 2023. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party , he has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1983 and represents Ibaraki 's 2nd district. He was previously the Minister of Finance from 2007 to 2008, and served twice as Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary . Nukaga

360-420: Is not to be confused with the mixed-member proportional systems used in many other nations. The Constitution of Japan does not specify the number of members of each house of the Diet, the voting system, or the necessary qualifications of those who may vote or be returned in parliamentary elections , thus allowing all of these things to be determined by law. However it does guarantee universal adult suffrage and

405-505: Is the national legislature of Japan . It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives ( 衆議院 , Shūgiin ), and an upper house, the House of Councillors ( 参議院 , Sangiin ). Both houses are directly elected under a parallel voting system . In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally responsible for nominating the Prime Minister . The Diet was first established as

450-405: Is why some conservative scholars argue that the women's reigns were temporary and that male-only succession tradition must be maintained in the 21st century. Empress Genmei (661–721), who was followed on the throne by her daughter, Empress Genshō (680–748), remains the sole exception to this conventional argument. In addition, the law contained numerous mechanisms to regulate the future size of

495-609: The Cabinet Legislation Bureau of the government, as well as to the ruling party. Japan's first modern legislature was the Imperial Diet ( 帝国議会 , Teikoku-gikai ) established by the Meiji Constitution in force from 1889 to 1947. The Meiji Constitution was adopted on February 11, 1889, and the Imperial Diet first met on November 29, 1890, when the document entered into force. The first Imperial Diet of 1890

SECTION 10

#1732845670539

540-580: The Constitution describes the National Diet as "the highest organ of State power" and "the sole law-making organ of the State". This statement is in forceful contrast to the Meiji Constitution , which described the Emperor as the one who exercised legislative power with the consent of the Diet. The Diet's responsibilities include not only the making of laws but also the approval of the annual national budget that

585-577: The Constitution of the Empire of Japan and could only be amended by the Emperor . The revised statute is subordinate to the Constitution of Japan , which went into effect on May 3, 1947. It develops Chapter 1: Article 2 of the Constitution of Japan, which states: "The Imperial Throne shall be dynastic and succeeded to in accordance with the Imperial House Law passed by the Diet". The law was drafted by

630-531: The Great East Japan Earthquake ". On 8 February 2018, Nukaga announced his intent to resign from his position as head of Heisei Kenkyūkai. This followed a rebellion in which faction members in House of Councillors led by Hiromi Yoshida threatened to leave the faction unless there was change in leadership. In March he handed over the leadership to Wataru Takeshita , the half-brother of the faction's founder. After that, Nukaga became chief advisor of

675-756: The Imperial Family are managed by the Imperial Household Council as stated under this law. National Diet Opposition (92) Unaffiliated (9) Vacant (8) Opposition (242) Unaffiliated (2) Naruhito [REDACTED] Fumihito [REDACTED] Shigeru Ishiba ( LDP ) Second Ishiba Cabinet ( LDP – Komeito coalition ) [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Fukushiro Nukaga Kōichirō Genba [REDACTED] Masakazu Sekiguchi Hiroyuki Nagahama Saburo Tokura Kazuo Ueda The National Diet ( Japanese : 国会 , Hepburn : Kokkai )

720-598: The Kurokawa decision of 1976, invalidating an election in which one district in Hyōgo Prefecture received five times the representation of another district in Osaka Prefecture . In recent elections the malapportionment ratio amounted to 4.8 in the House of Councillors (census 2005: Ōsaka/Tottori; election 2007: Kanagawa/Tottori ) and 2.3 in the House of Representatives (election 2009: Chiba 4/Kōchi 3). Candidates for

765-526: The Liberal Democratic Party had controlled Japan for most of its post-war history, and it gained much of its support from rural areas. During the post-war era, large numbers of people were relocating to the urban centers in the seeking of wealth; though some re-apportionments have been made to the number of each prefecture's assigned seats in the Diet, rural areas generally have more representation than do urban areas. The Supreme Court of Japan began exercising judicial review of apportionment laws following

810-522: The advice of the Cabinet . In an emergency the Cabinet can convoke the Diet for an extraordinary session, and an extraordinary session may be requested by one-quarter of the members of either house. At the beginning of each parliamentary session, the Emperor reads a special speech from his throne in the chamber of the House of Councillors. The presence of one-third of the membership of either house constitutes

855-517: The government of Shigeru Yoshida , Prime Minister . The law had the effect of dramatically restricting membership in the Imperial Family to the Emperor Hirohito 's immediate family, his widowed mother, and the families of his three brothers. It abolished the collateral lines of the Imperial Family, the shinnōke and the ōke , which had traditionally been a pool of potential successors to

900-517: The Diet and the Emperor. This meant that while the Emperor could no longer legislate by decree he still had a veto over the Diet. The Emperor also had complete freedom in choosing the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, and so, under the Meiji Constitution, Prime Ministers often were not chosen from and did not enjoy the confidence of the Diet. The Imperial Diet was also limited in its control over

945-429: The Diet if the House of Representatives passes a motion of no confidence introduced by fifty members of the House of Representatives. Government officials, including the Prime Minister and Cabinet members , are required to appear before Diet investigative committees and answer inquiries. The Diet also has the power to impeach judges convicted of criminal or irregular conduct. In most circumstances, in order to become law

SECTION 20

#1732845670539

990-418: The House demands. They are immune outside the house for words spoken and votes cast in the House. Each house of the Diet determines its own standing orders and has responsibility for disciplining its own members. A member may be expelled, but only by a two-thirds majority vote. Every member of the Cabinet has the right to appear in either house of the Diet for the purpose of speaking on bills, and each house has

1035-492: The House of Councillors on a bill, the House of Councillors can only delay the adoption of a budget or a treaty that has been approved by the House of Representatives, and the House of Councillors has almost no power at all to prevent the lower house from selecting any Prime Minister it wishes. Furthermore, once appointed it is the confidence of the House of Representatives alone that the Prime Minister must enjoy in order to continue in office. The House of Representatives can overrule

1080-562: The Imperial Diet in 1890 under the Meiji Constitution , and took its current form in 1947 upon the adoption of the post-war constitution . Both houses meet in the National Diet Building ( 国会議事堂 , Kokkai-gijidō ) in Nagatachō , Chiyoda , Tokyo . The houses of the National Diet are both elected under parallel voting systems. This means that the seats to be filled in any given election are divided into two groups, each elected by

1125-524: The Imperial Family, and thus the financial burden on the state. The chapters of the Imperial Household Law addresses the following: Chapter 1: Article 1 of the Imperial Household Law states: "The Imperial Throne shall be succeeded to by a male offspring in the male line belonging to the Imperial Lineage". The line of succession is detailed in Article 2 as: Matters relating to regency and membership of

1170-707: The LDP and the Japan Socialist Party (now Social Democratic Party ), which in fact had sponsored the reform. There are three types of sessions of the National Diet: Any session of the National Diet may be cut short by a dissolution of the House of Representatives (衆議院解散, shūgiin kaisan ). In the table, this is listed simply as "(dissolution)"; the House of Councillors or the National Diet as such cannot be dissolved. Fukushiro Nukaga Fukushiro Nukaga ( 額賀 福志郎 , Nukaga Fukushirō , born 11 January 1944)

1215-451: The budget. However, the Diet could veto the annual budget. If no budget was approved, the budget of the previous year continued in force. This changed with the new constitution after World War II. The proportional representation system for the House of Councillors, introduced in 1982, was the first major electoral reform under the post-war constitution. Instead of choosing national constituency candidates as individuals, as had previously been

1260-407: The case, voters cast ballots for parties. Individual councillors, listed officially by the parties before the election, are selected on the basis of the parties' proportions of the total national constituency vote. The system was introduced to reduce the excessive money spent by candidates for the national constituencies. Critics charged, however, that this new system benefited the two largest parties,

1305-547: The faction. In September 2019 Nukaga left the position of subcommittee chairman and became an advisor of the LDP Tax System Research Commission. He remained an authority in the field of economic policy within the LDP. In December 2021 he was chosen as chief of the new LDP "Headquarters for promoting fiscal consolidation." In October 2023 Nukaga was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, after Hiroyuki Hosoda resigned for health reasons. Nukaga

1350-460: The government submits and the ratification of treaties. It can also initiate draft constitutional amendments, which, if approved, must be presented to the people in a referendum. The Diet may conduct "investigations in relation to government" (Article 62). The Prime Minister must be designated by Diet resolution, establishing the principle of legislative supremacy over executive government agencies (Article 67). The government can also be dissolved by

1395-467: The lower house must be 25 years old or older and 30 years or older for the upper house. All candidates must be Japanese nationals. Under Article 49 of Japan's Constitution, Diet members are paid about ¥1.3 million a month in salary. Each lawmaker is entitled to employ three secretaries with taxpayer funds, free Shinkansen tickets, and four round-trip airplane tickets a month to enable them to travel back and forth to their home districts. Article 41 of

Imperial Household Law - Misplaced Pages Continue

1440-471: The mutual aid foundation KSD. He said that his secretary had received the money and that it had been returned, but apologized and said that he took "final responsibility as a supervisor". Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said that the government believed Nukaga's explanation. Nukaga served as chairman of the LDP Policy Research Council from September 2003 to September 2004. He returned to

1485-462: The position of LDP president (and thus Prime Minister) on 13 September, but, on 14 September, after meeting with Yasuo Fukuda , Nukaga announced that he would back Fukuda for the leadership. Following Fukuda's victory in the leadership election, Nukuga remained as Finance Minister in Fukuda's Cabinet, sworn in on 26 September 2007. He was replaced in that post by Bunmei Ibuki on 1 August 2008. Nukaga

1530-403: The position of Minister of State and Director General of the Japan Defense Agency on 31 October 2005, under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi , and remained in that position until September 2006. He was appointed Minister of Finance by Prime Minister Shinzō Abe in a cabinet reshuffle on 27 August 2007. Following Abe's resignation on 12 September, Nukaga initially said that he would run for

1575-522: The right to compel the appearance of Cabinet members. The vast majority of bills are submitted to the Diet by the Cabinet. Bills are usually drafted by the relevant ministry, sometimes with the advice of an external committee if the issue is sufficiently important or neutrality is necessary. Such advisory committees may include university professors, trade union representatives, industry representatives, and local governors and mayors, and invariably include retired officials. Such draft bills would be sent to

1620-421: The succession to legitimate-born sons, grandsons, and male line descendants of an Emperor. Previously, an Emperor's sons and grandsons born by concubines and their male line descendants could succeed to the throne. Although Imperial chronologies include eight reigning empresses in the course of Japanese history, their successors were most often selected from amongst the males of the paternal Imperial bloodline, which

1665-518: The throne if the main imperial family failed to produce an heir. The fifty-one members of the eleven cadet branches renounced their Imperial status; and they were formally removed from the Imperial household register and became ordinary citizens on October 14, 1947. The new law retained the principle of agnatic succession enshrined in the 1889 law and Prussian-influenced constitution during the 19th century Meiji Restoration . The new law further restricted

1710-415: The upper house in the following circumstances: Under the Constitution, at least one session of the Diet must be convened each year. Technically, only the House of Representatives is dissolved before an election. But, while the lower house is in dissolution, the House of Councillors is usually "closed". The Emperor both convokes the Diet and dissolves the House of Representatives but in doing so must act on

1755-532: Was a common name for an assembly in medieval European polities like the Holy Roman Empire . The Meiji Constitution was largely based on the form of constitutional monarchy found in nineteenth century Prussia that placed the king not as a servant of the state but rather the sole holder of power and sovereignty over his kingdom, which the Japanese view of their emperor and his role at the time favoured. The new Diet

1800-644: Was born in Asō, Ibaraki , now part of Namegata, Ibaraki . He graduated from Waseda University 's Faculty of Political Science and Economics. After working as a reporter for the Sankei Shimbun , he entered politics and was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1983 . He joined the Tanaka faction when elected, but along with most of the faction he later joined the Keiseikai founded by Noboru Takeshita , which

1845-598: Was later renamed the Heisei Kenkyūkai . He was named Minister of State and Director General of the Japan Defense Agency on 30 July 1998, under Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi , serving in that position until November 1998, when he resigned due to a scandal. He was named Minister of State in charge of economic and fiscal policy, as well as IT policy, on 5 December 2000, as part of Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori 's second cabinet, but he resigned on 23 January 2001, following criticism regarding 15 million yen he had received from

Imperial Household Law - Misplaced Pages Continue

1890-487: Was limited to men 25 years or older. The House of Peers, much like the British House of Lords , consisted of high-ranking nobles chosen by the Emperor. The first election by universal suffrage without distinction of sex was held in 1946, but it was not until 1947, when the constitution for post-war Japan came into effect, that universal suffrage was established In Japan. The word diet derives from Latin and

1935-577: Was modeled partly on the German Reichstag and partly on the British Westminster system . Unlike the post-war constitution, the Meiji constitution granted a real political role to the Emperor, although in practice the Emperor's powers were largely directed by a group of oligarchs called the genrō or elder statesmen. To become law or bill, a constitutional amendment had to have the assent of both

1980-560: Was plagued by controversy and political tensions. The Prime Minister of Japan at that time was General Count Yamagata Aritomo , who entered into a confrontation with the legislative body over military funding. During this time, there were many critics of the army who derided the Meiji slogan of "rich country, strong military" as in effect producing a poor country (albeit with a strong military). They advocated for infrastructure projects and lower taxes instead and felt their interests were not being served by high levels of military spending. As

2025-547: Was reelected in the August 2009 House of Representatives election , which was otherwise disastrous for the LDP. Nukaga was chosen to replace the retiring Yuji Tsushima as head of the Heisei Kenkyūkai. After the LDP returned to government with the 2012 election he became subcommittee chairman of the LDP Tax System Research Commission. In April 2015 he also became chief of the LDP "Headquarters for accelerating reconstruction after

#538461