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Japan's Constitutions: 1890 and 1947

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Harold S. Quigley
Harold S. Quigley*
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
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Extract

The Meiji constitution was in effect from November 29, 1890, until May 3, 1947, a period of fifty-six years and approximately five months. The present constitution, which may be known after the demise of Emperor Hirohito as the Showa constitution, was proclaimed in effect by Premier Yoshida Shigeru in the presence of Hirohito on May 3, 1947. The proclamation was read from a platform on the Palace plaza in Tokyo. The audience of five thousand people which stood in the rain before the platform was small in comparison with the huge crowd that surged around the imperial carriage on November 3, 1946, following the official ceremony of promulgation; but it was equally enthusiastic in its demonstration of loyalty. On both occasions, it was apparent that the embarrassed-looking, bespectacled little Emperor, and not the constitution, was the center of popular interest.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 41 , Issue 5 , October 1947 , pp. 865 - 874
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1947

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References

1 Meiji: title of reign era of Emperor Mutsuhito, meaning “Enlightened Government.” The effective date coincided with that of inauguration of the Diet.

2 Showa: title of reign era of Emperor Hirohito, meaning “Radiant Peace.”

3 Official Gazette, extra, Nov. 3, 1946.

4 The descents from the rostrum were difficult as they were required to be made backward, but there were no casualties.

5 Official Gazette, extra, Nov. 3, 1946, p. 1 Google Scholar.

6 The new constitution, in English translation, was printed in the Japanese Official Gazette, Nov. 3, 1946, and issued in pamphlet form by the cabinet secretariat; the old constitution is accessible in Ito, H., Commentaries on the Constitution of the Empire of Japan (Tokyo, 1889 and 1906)Google Scholar, and in Quigley, H. S., Japanese Government and Politics (New York, 1932), Appendix IVGoogle Scholar.

7 House of Peers, 90th Session, August 29, 1946, p. 17; August 30, pp. 15–16.

8 H. S. Quigley, op. cit., Chap. V.

9 H. S. Quigley, op. cit., 87–89, 104–117.

10 The quoted provision was added to the original draft in the House of Peers and was explained by the chairman of the special committee to which the draft was referred as designed to exclude former military officers from Cabinet posts.

11 Ito, H., Commentaries on the Constitution (2nd ed.), pp. 111–112 Google Scholar.

12 Dr.Rowe, D. N. cites the Christian Science Monitor in connection with a statement that the draft of March 6, 1946 Google Scholar, which was but slightly amended before promulgation, “was entirely the work of the Government Section” of SCAP; see his article, “The New Japanese Constitution—I,” in Far Eastern Survey, Jan. 27, 1947, pp. 16–17 Google Scholar. The minutes of the Diet support this statement.

13 Monthly Summary of Non-Military Activities, Japan, SCAP, Nov., 1945, p. 3 Google Scholar.

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