Misplaced Pages

#620379

37-587: The Ryōmō Line ( 両毛線 , Ryōmō-sen ) is a Japanese railway line connecting Oyama in Tochigi Prefecture with Maebashi in Gunma Prefecture . 84.4 km (52.4 mi) long, the line is owned and operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The name refers to the fact that Gunma and Tochigi prefectures were once part of an ancient province called Keno ( 毛野 ) , which

74-448: 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

111-622: 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

148-406: 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 )

185-477: 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

222-405: 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,

259-517: Is 14.5 °C (58.1 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,275.7 mm (50.22 in) with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.3 °C (79.3 °F), and lowest in January, at around 2.9 °C (37.2 °F). Per Japanese census data, the population of Oyama has grown steadily over the past 100 years. Oyama-shuku was a post station on

296-420: 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

333-552: 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

370-665: 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

407-580: 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

SECTION 10

#1732876474621

444-598: 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

481-592: 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

518-565: The Nikkō Kaidō connecting Edo with the shrines at Nikkō , and was controlled by Utsunomiya Domain during the Edo period . Oyama town was established within Shimotsuga District, Tochigi with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Oyama merged with the neighboring village of Otani on March 31, 1954 and was elevated to city status. On April 18, 1963, Oyama annexed

555-522: 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

592-517: 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

629-429: 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

666-418: 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

703-492: 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

740-562: 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

777-547: The Ryōmō Line, after which they stop at every station. Prior to its discontinuation in 2021, Akagi limited express services, branded Swallow Akagi on weekdays, ran between Maebashi and Ueno or Shinjuku . Takasaki to Oyama Takasaki to Maebashi (Takasaki Line through services) Ashikaga Ō-Fuji-Matsuri special services The Oyama to Kiryu section was opened in 1888 by the Ryomo Railway, and extended to Shin-Maebashi

SECTION 20

#1732876474621

814-451: 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

851-407: 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,

888-618: The center of the city. The Ubagawa River is on the western end of the city, Tagawa is on the eastern end of the city, and Kinugawa River is on the eastern end. Oyama is approximately 60 kilometers north of the Tokyo metropolis and approximately 30 kilometers south of the prefecture capital of Utsunomiya . Ibaraki Prefecture Tochigi Prefecture Oyama has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa ) characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Oyama

925-1268: The city government. The city has four public high schools operated by the Tochigi Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private school. The prefectural also operates one special education school for the handicapped. The city also has a North Korean school , Tochigi Korean Elementary and Junior High School ( 栃木朝鮮初中級学校 ). [REDACTED] JR East – Tōhoku Shinkansen [REDACTED] JR East – Tōhoku Main Line ( Utsunomiya Line ) [REDACTED] JR East – Ryōmō Line [REDACTED] JR East – Mito Line [REDACTED] Media related to Oyama, Tochigi at Wikimedia Commons Diet of Japan 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 )

962-580: The following year. The company merged with the Nippon Railway in 1897, and that company was nationalised in 1906. Oyama, Tochigi Oyama is located in the far southeastern corner Tochigi Prefecture , bordered by Ibaraki Prefecture to the south and east. The terrain is almost flat, and the city is in the north-central part of the Kanto plain . The Omoigawa, a branch of the Watarase River flows through

999-460: 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

1036-467: 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

1073-522: 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

1110-567: The town is part of Tochigi 4th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan . Oyama is a regional commercial center with a mixed economy. In agriculture, cultivation of rice, kanpyō and sericulture are important. The yuru-chara for Oyama is Kapyomaru ( かぴょ丸 , an anthropomorphized calabash of the type used for kanpyō. One of the major employers in the city is Komatsu making iron castings, diesel engines, fork lift trucks and other hydraulic equipment. Oyama has 25 public primary schools and ten public middle schools operated by

1147-480: The town of Mamada and village of Mita, both from Shimotsuga District. This was followed by the town of Kuwakinu on September 30, 1965. Oyama has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 40 members. Oyama, together with the town of Nogi collectively contributes five members to the Tochigi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics,

Ryōmō Line - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-470: 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

1221-532: 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

1258-545: Was later split into Kōzuke (Gunma) and Shimotsuke (Tochigi). This line connects both halves of the old province. Most Ryōmō Line services continue beyond Shin-Maebashi and terminate at Takasaki on the Joetsu Line . Local trains run once an hour during the day between Oyama and Maebashi (more frequently between Maebashi and Takasaki). Some rapid services from Ueno and the Shōnan-Shinjuku Line have through-service to

1295-487: 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

1332-577: 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

1369-560: 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

#620379