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38-535: The Shōwa Kenkyūkai was established in October 1930 as an informal organization led by Ryūnosuke Gotō , with the original intent of reviewing and assessing issues with the Meiji Constitution and the current political process. Goto was a close friend and political companion of Fumimaro Konoe , who hoped that the study group would generate innovative ideas for political reform, and Gotō called upon Masamichi Rōyama ,

76-583: A corporativist national assembly where membership would be based on occupation, and which would direct a state socialist command economy . Generally the Shōwa Kenkyūkai was theory-oriented, especially compared with the Kokusaku Kenkyukai. It was underpinned by personal linkage revealed by social network analysis. This disposition resulted in the way their concepts were developed at abstract level, then applied to more concrete topics. This tendency led

114-543: A political scientist from Tokyo Imperial University to head the association. Membership in the Shōwa Kenkyūkai was intentionally very diverse to avoid a systematic bias . It included noted scholars, journalists, bankers, socialists, militarists, businessmen and leaders of youth organizations. Established specifically as an organization of intellectuals, the Shōwa Kenkyukai excluded bureaucrats and politicians from

152-458: A constitutional amendment per Article 73 of the Meiji Constitution. After garnering the required two-thirds majority in both chambers, it received imperial assent on November 3, 1946, and took effect on May 3, 1947. Prior to the adoption of the Meiji Constitution, Japan had in practice no written constitution . Originally, a Chinese-inspired legal system and constitution known as ritsuryō

190-665: A form of mixed constitutional and absolute monarchy , based jointly on the German and British models . In theory, the Emperor of Japan governed the empire with the advice of his ministers; in practice, the Emperor was head of state but the Prime Minister was the actual head of government . Under the Meiji Constitution, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet were not necessarily chosen from

228-763: A period of sweeping political and social reform and westernization aimed at strengthening Japan to the level of the nations of the Western world. The immediate consequence of the Constitution was the opening of the first Parliamentary government in Asia. The Meiji Constitution established clear limits on the power of the executive branch and the Emperor. It also created an independent judiciary . Civil rights and civil liberties were allowed, though they were freely subject to limitation by law. Free speech, freedom of association and freedom of religion were all limited by laws. The leaders of

266-753: The Article 42 of the post-war Japanese Constitution based on bicameralism ) and the House of Peers as the upper house , (which resembled the Prussian Herrenhaus and the British House of Lords , now the House of Councillors of Japan under the Article 42 of the post-war Japanese Constitution based on bicameralism), and in the formal Speech from the Throne delivered by the Emperor on Opening Day (existing currently, under

304-399: The Article 7 of the post-war Japanese Constitution ). The second chapter of the constitution, detailing the rights of citizens , bore a resemblance to similar articles in both European and North American constitutions of the day. The Meiji Constitution consists of 76 articles in seven chapters, together amounting to around 2,500 words. It is also usually reproduced with its Preamble,

342-538: The National Foundation Day of Japan in 660 BC), but came into effect on November 29, 1890. The first National Diet of Japan , a new representative assembly , convened on the day the Meiji Constitution came into force. The organizational structure of the Diet reflected both Prussian and British influences, most notably in the inclusion of the House of Representatives as the lower house (existing currently, under

380-510: The Privy Council was established in 1888 to evaluate the forthcoming constitution, and to advise Emperor Meiji. The draft committee included Inoue Kowashi , Kaneko Kentarō , Itō Miyoji and Iwakura Tomomi , along with a number of foreign advisors , in particular the German legal scholars Rudolf von Gneist and Lorenz von Stein . The central issue was the balance between sovereignty vested in

418-508: The Prusso - German model, in which the Emperor of Japan was an active ruler and wielded considerable political power over foreign policy and diplomacy which was shared with an elected Imperial Diet . The Diet primarily dictated domestic policy matters. After the Meiji Restoration, which restored direct political power to the emperor for the first time in over a millennium, Japan underwent

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456-628: The Shōwa Dōjinkai (Shōwa Comrades' Association), which brought together middle-level bureaucrats, business leaders, and politicians to spread the ideas it was developing. In November of that year it established a school, the Shōwajuku (Shōwa Academy), to train successors in its methods. Discussion concerning Japan's future polity after the projected victory in the Second Sino-Japanese War dominated discussions after 1937. The Shōwa Kenkyūkai

494-523: The ritsuryō system of government had become largely an empty formality as early as in the middle of the Heian period in the 10th and 11th centuries, a development which was completed by the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate in 1185. The high positions in the ritsuryō system remained as sinecures , and the emperor was de-powered and set aside as a symbolic figure who "reigned, but did not rule" (on

532-642: The surrender in the World War II on September 2, 1945, the Empire of Japan was deprived of sovereignty by the Allies , and the Meiji Constitution was suspended. During the Occupation of Japan , the Meiji Constitution was replaced by a new document, the postwar Constitution of Japan . This document replaced imperial rule with a form of Western-style liberal democracy . To preserve legal continuity, these changes were enacted as

570-519: The Constitution or the Emperor is supreme. The Emperor of Japan had the right to exercise executive authority, and to appoint and dismiss all government officials. The Emperor also had the sole rights to declare war, make peace, conclude treaties, dissolve the lower house of Diet , and issue Imperial ordinances in place of laws when the Diet was not in session. Most importantly, command over the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy

608-451: The Diet, an amendment had to be adopted in both chambers by a two-thirds majority of the total number of members of each (rather than merely two-thirds of the total number of votes cast). Once it had been approved by the Diet, an amendment was then promulgated into law by the Emperor, who had an absolute right of veto. No amendment to the constitution was permitted during the time of a regency. Despite these provisions, no amendments were made to

646-447: The Diet, and no measure could become law without the agreement of the Emperor and the Diet. On the other hand, the Diet was given the authority to initiate legislation, approve all laws, and approve the budget. Amendments to the constitution were provided for by Article 73. This stipulated that, to become law, a proposed amendment had to be submitted first to the Diet by the Emperor through an imperial order or rescript. To be approved by

684-588: The Diet, was established with two houses. The Upper House, or House of Peers consisted of members of the Imperial Family, hereditary peerage and members appointed by the Emperor. The Lower House, or House of Representatives was directly elected by all males who paid at least 15 yen in property taxes, effectively limiting the suffrage to 1.1 percent of the population. These qualifications were loosened in 1900 and 1919 with universal adult male suffrage introduced in 1925. The Emperor shared legislative authority with

722-514: The Empire of Japan ( Kyūjitai : 大日本帝國憲法 ; Shinjitai : 大日本帝国憲法 , romanized: Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kenpō ), known informally as the Meiji Constitution ( 明治憲法 , Meiji Kenpō ), was the constitution of the Empire of Japan which was proclaimed on February 11, 1889, and remained in force between November 29, 1890, and May 2, 1947. Enacted after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, it provided for

760-706: The Imperial Oath Sworn in the Sanctuary in the Imperial Palace, and the Imperial Rescript on the Promulgation of the Constitution, which together come to nearly another 1,000 words. The seven chapters are: Unlike its modern successor, the Meiji Constitution was founded on the principle that sovereignty resided in person of the Emperor, by virtue of his divine ancestry "unbroken for ages eternal", rather than in

798-492: The courts "in the name of the Emperor". Rules on the succession of the imperial throne and on the Imperial household were left outside the Constitution; instead, a separate Act on the Imperial household ( koshitu tenpan ) was adopted. This Act was not publicly promulgated, because it was seen as a private Act of the Imperial household rather than a public law. Separate provisions of the Constitution are contradictory as to whether

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836-552: The elected members of parliament . During the Allied occupation of Japan , the Meiji Constitution was replaced with the " Postwar Constitution " on November 3, 1946; the latter document has been in force since May 3, 1947. In order to maintain legal continuity, the Postwar Constitution was enacted as an amendment to the Meiji Constitution. The Meiji Restoration in 1868 provided Japan a form of constitutional monarchy based on

874-403: The government and the political parties were left with the task of interpretation as to whether the Meiji Constitution could be used to justify authoritarian or liberal-democratic rule. It was the struggle between these tendencies that dominated the government of the Empire of Japan. Franchise was limited, with only 1.1% of the population eligible to vote for the Diet. Universal manhood suffrage

912-462: The government since the beginnings of the Meiji government . The conservative Meiji oligarchy viewed anything resembling democracy or republicanism with suspicion and trepidation, and favored a gradualist approach. The Freedom and People's Rights Movement demanded the immediate establishment of an elected national assembly , and the promulgation of a constitution. On October 21, 1881, Itō Hirobumi

950-922: The group to make the decision to dissolve into the Taisei Yokusankai. Some members also promoted the future political integration of Japan and China, and envisioned a unified economic block that would cover all of Asia. The Shōwa Kenkyūkai was voluntarily absorbed into Konoe's New Order Movement and the Taisei Yokusankai in November 1940. Meiji Constitution 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 Constitution of

988-399: The imperial constitution from the time it was adopted until its demise in 1947. The present constitution is legally reckoned as an amendment to the Meiji Constitution; this was done to preserve legal continuity even though it is a completely new document. However, according to Article 73 of the Meiji Constitution, the amendment should be authorized by the Emperor. Indeed, the 1947 Constitution

1026-521: The justification of the emperor's authority through his divine descent and the unbroken line of emperors, and the unique relationship between subject and sovereign. The Council of State was replaced in 1885 with a cabinet headed by Itō as Prime Minister . The positions of Chancellor , Minister of the Left , and Minister of the Right , which had existed since the seventh century, were abolished. In their place,

1064-538: The most interest to the Constitutional Study Mission. Influence was also drawn from the British Westminster system , although it was considered as being unwieldy and granting too much power to Parliament . He also rejected some notions as unfit for Japan, as they stemmed from European constitutional practice and Christianity. He therefore added references to the kokutai or "national polity" as

1102-451: The outset. Many of the members had been regarded Marxists and leftists. By the time the group was dissolved in 1940 it had involved, at its height, some three hundred intellectuals every year in its work. In 1936, it spun off a Shina-mondai Kenkyūkai (China Problems Study Group), and in 1938 it formed a Bunka Kenkyūkai (Cultural Study Group) to deal with the cultural aspects of Japanese-Chinese relations. In July 1938, it also established

1140-470: The people. Article 4 states that the "Emperor is the head of the Empire, combining in himself the rights of sovereignty". The Emperor, nominally at least, united within himself all three branches ( executive , legislative and judiciary ) of government, although legislation (article 5) and the budget (article 64) were subject to the "consent of the Imperial Diet". Laws were issued and justice administered by

1178-475: The person of the Emperor, and an elected representative legislature with powers that would limit or restrict the power of the sovereign. After numerous drafts from 1886 to 1888, the final version was submitted to Emperor Meiji in April 1888. The Meiji Constitution was drafted in secret by the committee, without public debate. The new constitution was promulgated by Emperor Meiji on February 11, 1889 (the anniversary of

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1216-402: The theory that the living god should not have to defile himself with matters of earthly government). The Charter Oath was promulgated on 6 April 1868, which outlined the fundamental policies of the government and demanded the establishment of deliberative assemblies , but it did not determine the details. The idea of a written constitution had been a subject of heated debate within and without

1254-605: Was a strong proponent of Pan-Asianism , in which it envisioned that Japan would take the leading role, and its thesis influenced Konoe in his New Order in East Asia declaration of November 1938 , and formed part of the theoretical basis for the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere . Politically, the Shōwa Kenkyūkai decided that liberal democracy was obsolete, and that the Diet of Japan should be replaced with

1292-494: Was appointed to chair a government bureau to research various forms of constitutional government, and in 1882, Itō led an overseas mission to observe and study various systems first-hand. The United States Constitution was rejected as too liberal. The French and Spanish models were rejected as tending toward despotism . The Reichstag and legal structures of the German Empire , particularly that of Prussia , proved to be of

1330-560: Was authorized by the Emperor (as was declared in the letter of promulgation), which is in apparent conflict of the 1947 Constitution, according to which that constitution was made and authorized by the nation ("the principle of popular sovereignty"). To dissipate such inconsistencies, some peculiar doctrine of "August Revolution" was proposed by Toshiyoshi Miyazawa of the University of Tokyo , but without much persuasiveness. Fukushiro Nukaga Too Many Requests If you report this error to

1368-410: Was directly held by the Emperor, and not the Diet. The Meiji Constitution provided for a cabinet consisting of Ministers of State who answered to the Emperor rather than the Diet, and to the establishment of the Privy Council . Not mentioned in the Constitution were the genrō , an inner circle of advisors to the Emperor, who wielded considerable influence. Under the Meiji Constitution, a legislature,

1406-480: Was enacted in the 6th century (in the late Asuka period and early Nara period ); it described a government based on an elaborate and theoretically rational meritocratic bureaucracy, serving under the ultimate authority of the emperor and organised following Chinese models. In theory the last ritsuryō code, the Yōrō Code enacted in 752, was still in force at the time of the Meiji Restoration. However, in practice

1444-540: Was not established (under law) until the General Election Law , which gave every male aged 25 and over a voting right, was enacted in 1925. The Meiji Constitution was used as a model for the 1931 Constitution of Ethiopia by the Ethiopian intellectual Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam . This was one of the reasons why the progressive Ethiopian intelligentsia associated with Tekle Hawariat were known as "Japanizers". By

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