JAPAN.

In 1867 the Shogun, until then the real ruler of Japan, surrendered his powers to the Emperor. The disappearance of the Shogunate weakened the feudal system, which was, however, made the basis of the first representative organization. In February, 1868, a superior council and seven ministerial departments were organized; a deliberative assembly was convened, its members to be composed of delegates appointed by the feudal chiefs. In the same year the Emperor took an oath that "the system of a deliberative assembly should be adopted and that all measures should be taken in conformity with public opinion." The organization of government upon a feudal basis proved unsatisfactory; the deliberative assembly was abolished in 1870, and the feudal régime itself was suppressed in 1871.

An agitation in favor of national representative institutions began in 1874, but those in charge of the government considered such a step premature; in 1878 representative provincial councils were created. Beginning in 1880 a vigorous political propaganda was conducted in favor of the establishment of a representative assembly; an imperial edict of 12 October 1881 announced that the first Imperial Diet would be convened in 1890.

Between 1881 and 1889 important reforms were made in the organization of the government. The Constitution was promulgated on 11 February 1889, and at the same time were issued the Imperial House Law, the Imperial Ordinance concerning the House of Peers, the Law of the Houses, the Electoral Law for members of the House of Representatives, and the Law of Finance. The first Diet was formally opened on 29 November 1890.1

CONSTITUTION OF 11 FEBRUARY 1889.2

CHAPTER I.THE EMPEROR.

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ARTICLE 1. The Empire of Japan shall be reigned over and governed by a line of Emperors unbroken for ages eternal.

1 These introductory paragraphs are reprinted from W. F. DODD, Modern Constitutions (Chicago, 1909), vol. II, p. 23. There is also a very good account in F. R. DARESTE ET P. DARESTE, Les Constitutions modernes (3d edition, Paris, 1910), vol. 11, pp. 686-687. 2 The translation given here is reprinted from DODD, op. cit., pp. 24-33, and was adopted by him almost without change from the official English translation issued from Tokyo in 1889; the difficulty of obtaining revision makes it necessary to give this Constitution in the untechnical language in which it here appears. English translation also in the British and Foreign State Papers, 81: pp. 289–295. French translation in DARESTE, op. cit., pp. 687-696. German translation in PAUL POSENER, Die Staatsverfassungen des Erdballs (Charlottenburg, 1909), pp. 924–933.

3 The island of Hokushu and the Nansei Islands have no representatives in the Imperial Diet.

ART. 2. The imperial throne shall be succeeded to by imperial male descendants, according to the provisions of the Imperial House Law.1

ART. 3. The Emperor is sacred and inviolable.

ART. 4. The Emperor is the head of the Empire, combining in himself the rights of sovereignty, and exercises them, according to the provisions of the present Constitution.

ART. 5. The Emperor exercises the legislative power with the consent of the Imperial Diet.

ART. 6. The Emperor gives sanction to laws and orders them to be promulgated and executed.

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ART. 7. The Emperor convokes the Imperial Diet, opens, closes and prorogues it, and dissolves the House of Representatives.

ART. 8. The Emperor, in consequence of an urgent necessity to maintain public safety or to avert public calamities, issues, when the Imperial Diet is not sitting, imperial ordinances in the place of laws.

Such imperial ordinances are to be laid before the Imperial Diet at its next session, and when the Diet does not approve the said ordinances, the government shall declare them to be invalid for the future.

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ART. 9. The Emperor issues, or causes to be issued, the ordinances necessary for the carrying out of the laws, or for the maintenance of the public peace and order, and for the promotion of the welfare of the subjects. But no ordinance shall in any way alter any of the existing laws.

ART. 10. The Emperor determines the organization of the different branches of the administration, and the salaries of all civil and military officers, and appoints and dismisses the same. Exceptions especially provided for in the present Constitution or in other laws shall be in accordance with the respective provisions (bearing thereon).

ART. 11. The Emperor has the supreme command of the army and navy.

ART. 12. The Emperor determines the organization and peace standing of the army and navy.

ART. 13. The Emperor declares war, makes peace and concludes treaties.

ART. 14. The Emperor proclaims a state of siege.

The conditions and effects of a state of siege shall be determined by law.

1 By the Imperial House Law of 11 February 1889 (62 articles), the succession is in the male descendants of the Emperor, in accordance with the law of primogeniture; when the Emperor has no descendants, the crown goes to the male relative of the nearest collateral male line. English translation of this law in the British and Foreign State Papers, 81: pp. 295–301.

2 Ordinances of 1881 and 1886 govern the forms of promulgation.

A law of 1889 authorizes the Emperor to sanction his ordinances with a penalty.

ART. 15. The Emperor confers titles of nobility, rank, orders and other marks of honor.

ART. 16. The Emperor orders amnesty, pardon, commutation of punishment and rehabilitation.

ART. 17. A regency shall be instituted in conformity with the provisions of the Imperial House Law.

The regent shall exercise the powers appertaining to the Emperor, in his name.

CHAPTER II.-RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF SUBJECTS.

ART. 18. The conditions necessary for being a Japanese subject shall be determined by law.1

ART. 19. Japanese subjects may, according to qualifications determined in laws or ordinances, be appointed to civil or military offices equally, and may fill any other public offices.

ART. 20. Japanese subjects are amenable to service in the army or navy, according to the provisions of law.

ART. 21. Japanese subjects are amenable to the duty of paying taxes, according to the provisions of law.

ART. 22. Japanese subjects shall have the liberty of abode and of changing the same within the limits of law.

ART. 23. No Japanese subject shall be arrested, detained, tried or punished, unless according to law.2

ART. 24. No Japanese subject shall be deprived of his right of being tried by the judges determined by law.

ART. 25. Except in the cases provided for in the law, the house of no Japanese subject shall be entered or searched without his consent. ART. 26. Except in the cases mentioned in the law, the secrecy of the letters of every Japanese subject shall remain inviolable.

ART. 27. The right of property of every Japanese subject shall remain inviolable.

Measures necessary to be taken for the public benefit shall be provided by law.3

ART. 28. Japanese subjects shall, within limits not prejudicial to peace and order, and not antagonistic to their duties as subjects, enjoy freedom of religious belief.

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ART. 29. Japanese subjects shall, within the limits of law, enjoy the liberty of speech, writing, publication, public meeting and association.5

1 Law of 1899 on nationality.

2 Code of Penal Procedure of 1887.

3 Law of 1889 on expropriation for the public benefit.

4 Law of 1893 on the press gave way to a new law in 1909.

5 Law of 1893 on freedom of assembly and association.

ART. 30. Japanese subjects may present petitions, by observing the proper forms of respect and by complying with the rules specially provided for the same.

ART. 31. The provisions in the present chapter shall not affect the exercise of the powers appertaining to the Emperor, in times of war or in cases of national emergency.

ART. 32. Each and every one of the provisions contained in the preceding articles of the present chapter, that are not in conflict with the laws or the rules and discipline of the army and navy, shall apply to the officers and men of the army and navy.

CHAPTER III.—THE IMPERIAL DIET.

ART. 33. The Imperial Diet shall consist of two houses, a House of Peers and a House of Representatives.1

ART. 34. The House of Peers shall, in accordance with the Ordinance concerning the House of Peers,2 be composed of the members of the imperial family, of the orders of nobility, and of those persons who have been nominated thereto by the Emperor.

ART. 35. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members elected by the people, according to the provisions of the electoral law.3

1 The internal organization of the two houses is regulated by the Law of the Houses of 11 February 1889 (see below, Article 51). The president and vice-president of the House of Peers are nominated by the Emperor from among the members, and the president and vice-president of the House of Representatives are nominated by the Emperor from among three candidates, elected by the House. The presidents of both houses receive an annual salary of 5,000 yen; vice-presidents, 3,000 yen; elected and nominated members of the House of Peers and members of the House of Representatives, 2,000 yen, besides traveling expenses.

2 By the Imperial Ordinance of 11 February 1889 (13 articles) concerning the House of Peers, the latter is composed of a. male members of the Imperial family of full age; b. princes and marquises of the age of 25 and upwards; c. counts, viscounts and barons of the age of 25 and upwards, who have been elected by the members of their respective orders, never to exceed one fifth of each order; d. persons above the age of 30 years, who have been nominated members by the Emperor for meritorious services to the State or for erudition; e. persons who shall have been elected in each city (Fu) and prefecture (Ken) from among and by the 15 male inhabitants thereof, above the age of 30 years, paying therein the highest amount of direct national taxes on land, industry or trade, and have been nominated by the Emperor. The term of membership under c and e is seven years; under a, b and d, for life. The number of members under d and e must not exceed the number of other members. In 1917, the total number of peers was 364 (see The Statesman's Year-book, 1917, p. 1058). English translation of this law in DODD, op. cit., pp. 33-35.

8 The Electoral Law of 11 February 1889 was amended in 1900 and 1908. The members of the House number 379, a fixed number being returned from each electoral district. The proportion of the number of members to the population is one to about 136,522. Voting is by secret single ballot. The right to vote is enjoyed by male subjects of not less than full 25 years of age, who have been permanent and actual residents in the electoral district for not less than a year and who pay land tax to the amount of not less than 10 yen (about $5) in a year for more than one year, or direct taxes other than land tax to the amount of not less than 10 yen in a year for more than two years or of land tax together with other direct national taxes to the amount of not less than 10 yen in a year for more than two years. In general, male subjects of not less than 30 years of age are eligible to the House, without any qualification arising from payment of taxes. Disqualified for membership are the imperial household officials, priests, students, teachers of elementary schools, government contractors and election officials.

ART. 36. No one shall at one and the same time be a member of both houses.

ART. 37. Every law requires the consent of the Imperial Diet.

ART. 38. Both houses shall vote upon projects of law submitted to them by the government, and may respectively initiate projects of law.

ART. 39. A bill, which has been rejected by either the one or the other of the two houses, shall not be again brought in during the same session.

ART. 40. Both houses may make representations to the government as to laws or upon any other subject. When, however, such representations are not accepted, they can not be made a second time during the same session.

ART. 41. The Imperial Diet shall be convoked every year.

ART. 42. A session of the Imperial Diet shall last during three months, In case of necessity, the duration of a session may be prolonged by imperial order.

ART. 43. When urgent necessity arises, an extraordinary session may be convoked, in addition to the ordinary one.

The duration of an extraordinary session shall be determined by imperial order.

ART. 44. The opening, closing, prolongation of session, or prorogation of the Imperial Diet shall be effected simultaneously for both houses.

In case the House of Representatives has been ordered to dissolve, the House of Peers shall at the same time be prorogued.

ART. 45. When the House of Representatives has been ordered to dissolve, members shall be caused by imperial order to be newly elected, and the new House shall be convoked within five months from the day of dissolution.

ART. 46. No debate shall be opened and no vote shall be taken in either house of the Imperial Diet, unless not less than one third of the whole number of the members thereof is present.

ART. 47. Votes shall be taken in both houses by absolute majority. In the case of a tie, the president shall have the casting vote.

ART. 48. The deliberations of both houses shall be held in public. The deliberations may, however, upon demand of the government or by resolution of the house, be held in secret sitting.

ART. 49. Both houses of the Imperial Diet may respectively present adresses to the Emperor.

ART. 50. Both houses may receive petitions presented by subjects. ART. 51. Both houses may enact, besides what is provided for in the present Constitution and in the Law of the Houses, rules necessary for the management of their internal affairs.