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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2013
From the standpoint of the national legislature, the constitution of Japan which became effective on May 3, 1947, contains the following significant reforms: (1) popular sovereignty replaces the sovereignty of the emperor; (2) the Diet is the chief branch of government; (3) an elected House of Councillors supersedes the House of Peers; (4) the cabinet is responsible to the Diet; (5) the “invisible government” of crown agencies is abolished.
The preamble to the new constitution begins: “We, the Japanese people, acting through our duly elected representatives in the National Diet…, do proclaim that sovereign power resides with the people.” As for the once sacred and inviolable emperor, he does “not have powers related to government,” but functions merely as “the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people, deriving his position from the will of the people with whom resides sovereign power,” performing, “with the advice and approval of the cabinet,” only such acts as promulgating laws, convoking the Diet and dissolving the House of Representatives, proclaiming general elections, attesting the appointment of officials, and awarding honors.
1 Constitution of Japan, Art. 4. For an appraisal of the old and new constitutions, see Quigley, H. S., “Japan's Constitutions: 1890 and 1947,” in this Review, Vol. 41, pp. 865–874 (Oct., 1947)Google Scholar.
2 Art. 1.
3 Art. 7.
4 Art. 41. Membership in the House of Representatives remains at 466; of the 250 Councillors, 100 are elected at large and 150 on a prefectural basis. The defunct House of Peers had 407 members in 1946.
5 Art. 66.
6 Art. 67. A majority of the cabinet must be Diet members. Art. 68. The first cabinet under the new constitution was composed of 16 Representatives, including the prime minister, and one Councillor.
7 Art. 83.
8 Art. 85.
9 Art. 86.
10 Art. 87.
11 Art. 84.
12 Art. 88.
13 Art. 81.
14 Art. 73.
15 Art. 96.
16 Official Gazette, Apr. 30, 1947.
17 House of Representatives, 91st Session, Special Committee on the Diet Law Bill, Proceedings, No. 1, Dec. 19, 1946.Google Scholar The bill was drafted and proposed by 21 members, including the speaker and vice-speaker. Upon introduction, it was referred to a special committee of 36 members, six of whom had aided in framing it. Among the members who drafted the bill, together with their status at the installation of the Katayama cabinet in June, 1947, were Ashida Hitoshi, Democratic party president and minister of foreign affairs; Mizutani Chosaburo, Social Democrat, minister of commerce and industry; Ono Banboku, secretary-general of the Liberal party; Tanaka Manitsu, Democrat, vice-speaker of the House of Representatives; Tokuda Kyuichi, secretary-general of the Communist party; Matsumoto Takizo, People's Coöperative, parliamentary vice-minister of foreign affairs; Satake Haruki, Social Democrat, parliamentary vice-minister of justice; Bando Kotaro, Democrat, chairman of the Standing Committee on Local Government; Inoue Tomoharu. Democrat (former vice-speaker); and Yamazaki Takeshi, Liberal (former speaker). The last-named, a member of the lower house for over 25 years, encouraged the Investigation Committee to break new ground in writing the Diet Law.
18 Ibid.
19 Ibid., No. 2, Dec. 20, 1946. Committee arguments centered mainly upon the secretary-general as a House official, introduction of a bill by a single member, public hearings, and qualified specialists for committees.
20 Official Gazette, extra, Dec. 22, 1946, p. 6.
21 Ibid., Dec. 23, 1946, p. 2.
22 Ibid., p. 3. Uehara, Liberal, graduate of the University of Washington and London University, previously served nine terms in the House of Representatives.
23 Ibid., pp. 3–4.
24 Ibid.
25 Ibid.
26 Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 26, 1946. The Peers also resented Uehara's ungracious manner, the fact that the Representatives sponsored the bill, and the refusal of the latter to agree to amend Article 84 permitting the Councillors as well as the Representatives to request a joint committee. Ibid.
27 Official Gazette, extra, Feb. 22, 1947, p. 2.
28 Ibid., Mar. 19, 1947, pp. 21–24.
29 Ibid., Mar. 20, 1947, p. 2.
30 Diet Law, Arts. 1, 5.
31 Arts. 65, 66.
32 Art. 65.
33 Art. 2.
34 Art. 9.
35 Arts. 8, 14.
36 Art. 10.
37 Art. 11.
38 Arts. 12, 13.
39 Art. 16.
40 Art. 32.
41 House of Peers, 91st Session, Special Committee on the Diet Law Bill, Proceedings, No. 2, Dec. 23, 1946.Google Scholar
42 Ibid.
43 Diet Law, Art. 35.
44 Art. 36.
45 Speech of Tanaka Manitsu explaining the Diet Law bill in the House of Representatives, Official Gazette, extra, Dec. 19, 1946. pp. 1–5.Google Scholar
46 Diet Law, Art. 59.
47 Art. 65.
48 Constitution, Art. 63.
49 Diet Law, Art. 70.
50 Art. 81.
51 Arts. 104, 105.
52 Official Gazette, extra, Dec. 19, 1946, p. 2.
53 Diet Law, Art. 39.
54 First included in the Election Law of 1925, Art. X remained intact, unnoticed by most Diet members, when that law was revised in Mar., 1947, a few days after the enactment of the Diet Law. It was repealed on Apr. 7, 1948.
55 Official Gazette, extra, Dec. 19, 1946, p. 4.
56 Diet Law, Art. 72; Meiji constitution, Art. LXXII. The government submitted Board of Audit reports to the Diet.
57 Diet Law, Art. 38.
58 Art. 132.
59 Art. 130; Official Gazette, extra, Dec. 19, 1946, p. 5.
60 Diet Law, Art. 78.
61 Official Gazette, extra, Dec. 19, 1946, p. 4.
62 Diet Law, Art. 77.
63 Art. 56. “Mr. Yamaguchi Kikuichiro: ‘I wish to make an urgent motion for a change in the Order of the Day. That is, I move that the fifth item … be taken up now and its deliberation be proceeded with.’ The Speaker: ‘Is there any objection…?’ ‘No objection!’ is voiced. The Speaker: ‘… The Government has agreed to this change…. And so the Order of the Day is changed accordingly. We will hold the First Reading of the fifth item … the bill for the Diet Law’.” Official Gazette, extra, Dec. 19, 1946, p. 1. The first four “items” were Government bills!
64 Diet Law, Art. 76.
65 Art. 56. In the United States House of Representatives, a majority (218) of the total membership must make a similar demand in order to force a bill out of committee.
66 Art. 57.
67 Art. 60.
68 Art. 58.
69 Pub. Law 601, 79th Cong., enacted Aug. 2, 1946.
70 Diet Law, Art. 42.
71 Art. 41.
72 Art. 25.
73 Art. 45.
74 Art. 46.
75 Art. 52.
76 Art. 54.
77 Art. 47.
78 Official Gazette, extra, Dec. 19, 1946, p. 3.
79 Diet Law, Art. 43.
80 Art. 51.
81 Asanuma Inejiro, Social Democrat, House of Representatives, 91st Session, Proceedings, No. 1, Special Committee on the Diet Law Bill, Dec. 19, 1946.Google Scholar
83 Diet Law, Art. 103.
84 Art. 106.
85 Arts. 99, 100, 101.
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