Background and Development of the Constitution
– Enacted on 3 May 1947
– Written primarily by American civilian officials
– Promulgated as an amendment of the Meiji Constitution of 1890
– Provides for a parliamentary system of government
– Guarantees certain fundamental human rights
– Historical Origins – Meiji Constitution
– Fundamental law of the Empire of Japan
– Propagated during the reign of Emperor Meiji
– Mixed constitutional and absolute monarchy
– Emperor was the supreme leader, but the Prime Minister was the actual head of government
– Prime Minister and cabinet were not accountable to elected members of the Imperial Diet
– The Potsdam Declaration
– Issued by Allied leaders demanding Japanese military’s unconditional surrender, demilitarization, and democratization
– Defined major goals of post-surrender Allied occupation
– Aimed for the establishment of democratic tendencies and respect for fundamental human rights in Japan
– Occupying forces to be withdrawn once objectives were accomplished and a peacefully inclined and responsible government was established
– Allied occupation sought fundamental changes in Japan’s political system
The Emperor’s Role
– The Emperor is the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people
– Carries many functions of a head of state
– Reduced to a ceremonial role under the new constitution
– Acts under the sovereignty of the people for constitutional monarchy
– Exercises a symbolic role in the government
Drafting Process
– Constitution largely drafted by US lawyers in the occupation authority
– Initial post-surrender measures suggested Japan initiate democratic reforms on their own
– MacArthur and Japanese officials disagreed on writing a new Constitution
– Formal draft constitution created by the Shidehara Cabinet was rejected by GHQ
– Government reviewed revised drafts and accepted liberal ways of thinking towards the emperor and disarmament
– Subtopic 1: Conflict between Konoe and Shidehara cabinets over constitutional amendment
– Shidehara Cabinet and Joji Matsumoto believed the Cabinet should be the only one to amend the Constitution.
– Constitutional Problems Investigation Committee was established to address the conflict.
– Konoe was nominated as a Class A war criminal, ending his initiative to amend the Constitution.
– Konoe’s proposal for amendment reflected the wishes of the GHQ and was very liberal in content.
– Authority to amend the Constitution was transferred to Shidehara’s cabinet.
– Matsumoto Committee and its recommendations
– Jōji Matsumoto was appointed by Shidehara to head a committee of Constitutional scholars.
– Matsumoto Committee presented four principles of constitutional amendment, including expanding the power of the parliament.
– The committee prepared a constitutional amendment outline based on these principles.
– Matsumoto Committee’s recommendations were conservative and only made minor changes to the Meiji Constitution.
– MacArthur rejected the recommendations and ordered the drafting of a completely new document.
– Drafts and proposals from various organizations
– The Constitution Study Group, established in 1945, proposed a draft constitution based on the principle of popular sovereignty.
– Private organizations and political parties also announced draft constitutional amendments.
– GHQ may have included the opinion of the Constitutional Study Group in their draft proposal.
– Drafting of the Constitution was mostly done by American authors, with input from a few Japanese scholars.
– Beate Sirota wrote the articles about equality between men and women.
MacArthur’s Involvement and Finalization of the Constitution
– MacArthur initially had a policy of not interfering with the revision of the Constitution.
– MacArthur changed his attitude and became involved in the drafting process.
– He wanted to conclude the constitutional issue before the establishment of the Far Eastern Commission.
– Japanese government called on GHQ to reconsider the MacArthur Draft, but it was rejected.
– Prime Minister Shidehara accepted the MacArthur draft by a cabinet meeting.
– Finalization and public disclosure of the Constitution
– Joji Matsumoto aimed to draft a Japanese government bill based on the MacArthur Draft.
– The draft was completed on March 2, 1946, but differences between the MacArthur Draft and March 2 Draft caused a heated argument.
– Adjustments were made, and the final draft was completed on March 6, 1946.
– On March 6, the government publicly disclosed an outline of the pending Constitution.
– Elections for the House of Representatives were held on April 10, 1946, where women were permitted to vote for the first time.
Controversies and Features of the Constitution
– Controversy over the Renunciation of Armed Forces
– The renunciation of armed forces in the Japanese Constitution was controversial.
– Hitoshi Ashida added the phrase ‘In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph’ to paragraph 2 without diet deliberations.
– This addition led to the interpretation of the Constitution allowing the retention of force in certain circumstances.
– There is an ongoing debate on whether the Self Defense Forces violate the Constitution.
– The renunciation of war as a sovereign right of the nation and the use of force as means of settling international disputes is a key aspect of Article 9.
– Writing Style and Ambiguities in the Constitution
– The Japanese Constitution is written in modern colloquial Japanese instead of Classical Japanese.
– The Japanese version includes some awkward phrasing, and scholars sometimes consult the English drafts to resolve ambiguities.
– The government adopted the ideas from the MacArthur draft, which proposed a unicameral legislature but was changed to a bicameral one at the insistence of the Japanese.
– The Constitution emphasizes the symbolic role of the Emperor and guarantees of civil and human rights.
– The renunciation of war is one of the Constitution’s distinctive features.
– MacArthur’s Role in Drafting the Constitution
– The Japanese government closely followed a model copy prepared by MacArthur’s command when drafting the Constitution. Source URL:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Japan
