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The Documents of Japan's Commission on the Constitution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

John M. Maki
Affiliation:
University of Washington
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Abstract

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Type
Review Article
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1965

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References

1 Robert Ward's article, “The Commission on the Constitution and Prospects for Constitutional Change in Japan,” appears on pp. 401–429.

2 The Commission's Secretariat also published more than a hundred volumes of reference materials for use only by Commission members. Unlike the documents, these were not sold; however, they have appeared in a few bookdealers' catalogues.

3 The writer has not performed the herculean task of reading all 40,000 pages of the Commission's documents. However, he has read or scanned something over ten per cent of the total and, during the six years he has been interested in the Commission's work, has been able to develop a general familiarity with the several categories of documents.

4 A literal translation of the title is “Constitution Investigation Commission (or Committee).” It has been frequently referred to by that title (or variations) in English-language publications. However, the Commission itself adopted “Commission on the Constitution” as the official English title (Minutes of the 9th Plenary Meeting, p. 1; for full citation, see item I.A. below).

5 The material in this paragraph is based on a brief description of the Commission's approach on p. 39 of the Report (for full citation, see II. C.I. below).

6 This summary is based on the digests of the agenda of plenary meetings appearing as an appendix in the Report, pp. 1042–1093. Meetings not listed here were devoted to administrative matters.

7 See Asahi Shimbun, July 27, 1963 (evening edition).

8 Asahi Shimbun, July 3, 1964 (evening edition), p. 1; also Minutes of the 131st Plenary Session, p. 7.

9 Asahi Shimbun, July 4, 1964 (morning edition), p. 17.

10 Kempō Chōsa Kai Hōkokusho no Gaiyō (Resumé of the Report of the Commission on the Constitution). The reviewer has seen only the version that was published as a supplement to the journal, Toki no Hörei.

11 Hōritsu Jihō, hachi-gatsu go, rinjizōkan (Hōritsu Jihō, August special issue).

12 Jiyurisuto, Hachi-gatsu, ichi-nichi go, 1964. No. 303. (Jiyurisuto, August 1, 1964, issue, No. 303.)

13 Following the dissolution of the Commission, a successor organization, the Kempō Shiryō Chōsa Shitsu (the Division on the Investigation of Constitutional Materials), was established within the Cabinet Bureau of Legislation. Mr. Ōtomo Ichirō, who had served as a councillor of the Commission since its inception, was appointed chief of the Division.