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Charles River Editors
The Constitution of the Empire of Japan
The Constitution of the Empire of Japan
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The Constitution of the Empire of Japan is the fundamental law of Japan. It was enacted in May 1947 as a new constitution for postwar Japan following American occupation after World War II.
The victorious Allies wished to encourage Japan's new leaders to initiate democratic reforms on their own, but by 1946, General Douglas MacArthur's staff and Japanese officials were at odds over the most fundamental issue, the writing of a new constitution. Emperor Hirohito, Prime Minister Shidehara Kijuro and most of the cabinet members were extremely reluctant to take the drastic step of replacing the 1889 Meiji Constitution with a more liberal document. However, much of the new constitution was ultimately drafted by 2 U.S. army officers with law degrees, and others chosen by MacArthur also had a large say in the document. Although the document's authors were non-Japanese, they took into account the Meiji Constitution, the demands of Japanese lawyers, and the opinions of pacifist political leaders such as Shidehara and Yoshida Shigeru.
The MacArthur draft, which proposed a unicameral legislature, was changed at the insistence of the Japanese to allow a bicameral legislature, both houses being elected. In most other important respects, however, the ideas were adopted by the government in its own draft proposal. These included the constitution's most distinctive features: the symbolic role of the Emperor, the prominence of guarantees of civil and human rights, and the renunciation of war.
This edition of Japan’s constitution is specially formatted with a Table of Contents.
The victorious Allies wished to encourage Japan's new leaders to initiate democratic reforms on their own, but by 1946, General Douglas MacArthur's staff and Japanese officials were at odds over the most fundamental issue, the writing of a new constitution. Emperor Hirohito, Prime Minister Shidehara Kijuro and most of the cabinet members were extremely reluctant to take the drastic step of replacing the 1889 Meiji Constitution with a more liberal document. However, much of the new constitution was ultimately drafted by 2 U.S. army officers with law degrees, and others chosen by MacArthur also had a large say in the document. Although the document's authors were non-Japanese, they took into account the Meiji Constitution, the demands of Japanese lawyers, and the opinions of pacifist political leaders such as Shidehara and Yoshida Shigeru.
The MacArthur draft, which proposed a unicameral legislature, was changed at the insistence of the Japanese to allow a bicameral legislature, both houses being elected. In most other important respects, however, the ideas were adopted by the government in its own draft proposal. These included the constitution's most distinctive features: the symbolic role of the Emperor, the prominence of guarantees of civil and human rights, and the renunciation of war.
This edition of Japan’s constitution is specially formatted with a Table of Contents.
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