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The Japanese Constitution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

Kenneth Colegrove
Kenneth Colegrove
Affiliation:
Northwestern University
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Extract

The Japanese constitution of 1889 is not, as is frequently assumed, chiefly the product of the labors of Hirobumi Ito and his secretaries who, in 1882–1883, studied constitutional systems in Europe preparatory to drafting the text of the fundamental law which the Emperor had promised in the celebrated rescript of 1881. Discussion of constitutional progress had begun as far back as 1867 and, immediately following the restoration, Meiji statesmen began the task of drafting projects of a constitution. Okubo, Goto, Kido, and Itagaki played leading rôles in urging the adoption of a national charter, and when Okubo and Kido relaxed their efforts, Itagaki initiated a popular campaign. Finally, in 1876, a formal commission of the Genro-in (Senate) was appointed to draft a constitution, while in 1880, its completed project was laid before the Emperor. This draft proposed a form of government having many features of the British parliamentary system.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 31 , Issue 6 , December 1937 , pp. 1027 - 1049
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1937

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References

2 The texts of all these laws and ordinances are found in convenient form in Ito, Hirobumi, Teikoku Kempo Koshitsu Tempan Gikai, or “Commentaries on the Constitution and the Imperial House Law of the Empire of Japan” (Tokyo, 1889)Google Scholar. The official English translation of these commentaries, together with the constitution and other laws, is entitled Commentaries on the Constitution of Japan by Count Hirobumi Ito (trans, by Ito, Miyoji, Tokyo, 1889)Google Scholar. There are two other editions of this translation under dates of 1900 and 1931.

3 The imperial rescript creating the cabinet in place of the Dajokwan, or council of state, was issued as Imperial Proclamation No. 69, on December 22, 1885. See the Horei Zensho, or “Collection of Laws and Ordinances” (Tokyo, 1890), 1885, pp. 3, 1044Google Scholar. The Sumitsuin Kansei oyobi Jimu Kitei, or Imperial Ordinance Regarding the Organization and Procedure of the Privy Council, commonly cited as Imperial Ordinance No. 22 of 1888, is found in the Nippon Ruiten, or “Code of Laws” (ed. by Ichioka, S., Tokyo, 1889)Google Scholar. An English translation, as published in Captain Brinkley's, FrankJapan Weekly Mail, May 12, 1888, pp. 444–445Google Scholar, is reprinted in McLaren, W. W., “Japanese Government Documents,” in Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan (Tokyo, 1914), Vol. XLII, pt. 1, pp. 127–132Google Scholar.

4 In spite of the importance of the custom prohibiting the appointment of civilians as ministers of war and the navy, this practice found legal expression, and then only by implication, in the fuhyo, or attached list, of the Imperial Ordinance regarding the Organization of the Navy Department, No. 194, May 19, 1900, and in the Imperial Ordinance regarding the Organization of the War Department, No. 75, April 15, 1903. See the Genko Horei Shuran, or “Compilation of Laws and Ordinances in Force” (Tokyo, 1907), Vol. I, pt. iii, pp. 66, 104–105Google Scholar.

5 Compare Hozumi, Yatsuka, Kempo Teiyo, or “Principles of the Constitution” (Tokyo, 1910), Vol. I, pp. ii–vGoogle Scholar; Minobe, Tatsukichi, Kempo Satsuyo, or “Principles of the Constitution” (Tokyo, 1932), pp. 98–118Google Scholar.

6 Compare Sasuhara, Yasuzo, Meiji Seishi, or “Political History of the Meiji Era,” in the Meiji Bunka Zenshu, or “Materials on the Cultural History of the Meiji Era” (ed. by Yoshino, Sakuzo, Tokyo, 1928), Vol. I, pp. 33–47Google Scholar; Osatake, Takeshi, Nippon Kensei Shi, or “Constitutional History of Japan” (Tokyo, 1930), pp. 18–33Google Scholar; and his Ishin Zengo-ni okeru Rikken Shiso, or “Constitutional Ideas of the Restoration Period” (Tokyo, 1929), pp. 1–37Google Scholar; Okamato, Keiji, Meiji-Taisho Shiso Shi: Kokka oyobi Kokumin Seikatsu no Jisso-o Josu, or “History of Ideas in the Meiji and Taisho Eras: The Life of the State and the Nation” (Tokyo, 1929), pp. 19–81Google Scholar.

7 Compare Osatake, Takeshi, Iteki no Kuni-e: Bakumatsu Kengai Shisetsu, or “To Strange Lands: Accounts of the Envoys Sent Abroad by the Shogunate” (Tokyo, 1929)Google Scholar.

8 See the chronological table of political literature in the Meiji Bunka Zenshu (ed. by Yoshino, ), Vol. V, pp. 511–517; VII, pp. 551–573Google Scholar.

9 See his unfinished autobiography under the title of Fuku-o Ji Den, or “The Autobiography of a Happy Old Man” (Tokyo, 1901)Google Scholar.

10 Compare Shibuzawa, Eiichi, Tokugawa Yoshinobu Ko Den, or “Biography of Prince Yoshinobu Tokugawa” (Tokyo, 1917), Vol. VII, pp. 183–184Google Scholar.

11 This document, called the Gokajo no Goseimon (Coronatıon Oath of Five Articles), was issued on April 6 (old style March 14), 1868. For the text of the oath as promulgated, see Shimbun Shusei Meiji Hennen Shi, or “Chronological Record of the Meiji Era Selected from Newspapers” (ed. by Nakayama, Yasumasa, Tokyo, 1934), Vol. I, p. 21Google Scholar. The wording of the first article is somewhat vague. It reads: Hiroku kaigi-o okoshi banki koron ni kessu beshi. A variant of the translation given above is: “An assembly widely convoked shall be established and all measures shall be decided by deliberation.” On the question of interpretation, see Otsu, Junichiro, Dai Nippon Kensei Shi, or “Constitutional History of Japan” (Tokyo, 1927), Vol. I, pp. 213–215Google Scholar; Osatake, Takeshi, Nippon Kensei Shi, pp. 36–40Google Scholar; and his Ishin Zengo-ni okeru Rikken Shiso, Vol. I, pp. 246–308Google Scholar; Kudo, Takeshige, Meiji Kensei Shi, or “Constitutional History of the Meiji Era” (Tokyo, 1914–1922), Vol. I, pp. 105–112Google Scholar.

12 See Viscount Kotei Fukuoka, Gokajo no Goseimon to Seitaisho no Yurai ni Tsuite, or “Regarding the History of the Imperial Oath of Five Articles and the Declaration of the Form of Government,” in the Meiji Kensei Keizai Shiron, or “Papers and Addresses on the Development of Constitutional Government and National Economy in the Meiji Era” (ed. by the Gakkai, Kokka, Tokyo, 1919), pp. 1–45Google Scholar. See also Tsumaki, Chuta, Shokiku Kido Ko Den, or “Biography of Prince Kido” (Tokyo, 1927), Vol. I., pp. 913–918Google Scholar.

13 Meiji Kensei Keizai Shiron, p. 21. Compare Honjo, Eijiro, Meiji Ishin Keizai Shi Kenkyu, or “Studies in the Economic History of the Meiji Restoration” (Tokyo, 1930), pp. 359–406Google Scholar; Nishino, Kiyosaku, Hanseiki Zaikai Sokumen Shi, or “Side Lights on a Half Century of National Finance” (Tokyo, 1932), pp. 116–123Google Scholar.

14 For the text of the Seitai Sho, see the Horei Zensho, or “Collection of Laws and Ordinances,” 1867–1868, Vol. II, pp. 31–34Google Scholar; Dai Nippon Gaiko Bunsho, or “Diplomatic Documents of Japan” (Compiled by the Research Service of the Foreign Office, Tokyo, 1936), Vol. I, pt. i, pp. 551–558Google Scholar. An English translation of the text, as published in the Japan Herald (Yokohama), Aug. 29, 1868, p. 1492, is given in McLaren, W. W., Japanese Government Documents, pp. 7–15Google Scholar.

15 See his Kempo Seitei no Yurai, or “Historical Sketch of the Framing of the Constitution,” in the Meiji Bunka Zenshu (ed. by Yoshino, ), Vol. IV, pp. 419–428Google Scholar.

16 Compare Tsumaki, , Shokiku Kido Ko Den, Vol. II, pp. 1559–1572Google Scholar; Katsuda, Magoya, Okubo Toshimichi Den, or “Biography of Toshimichi Okubo” (Tokyo, 1910), Vol. III, p. 121Google Scholar; Okubo Toshimichi Bunsho, or “Letters and Papers of Toshimichi Okubo” (ed. by the Kai, Nippon Shiseki Kanko, Tokyo, 1927–1929), Vol. VIII, pp. 109–111Google Scholar; Itagaki, Taisuke, Jiyuto Shi, or “History of the Liberal Party” (Tokyo, 1910), Vol. I, pp. 37–45Google Scholar.

17 Compare Itagaki's, Wagakuni Kensei no Yurai, or “Development of Constitutional Government in Japan,” in Meiji Kensei Keizai Shiron, or “Papers and Addresses on the Development of Constitutional Government and National Economy in Japan” (ed. by the Gakkai, Kokka, Tokyo, 1919), pp. 176–181Google Scholar.

18 Of the five resigning Sangi, only Takamori Saigo was of the Satsuma clan Taneomi Soyejima, and Shimpei Eto were of Hizen, while Itagaki and Shojiro Goto were of Tosa.

19 See Itagaki's, Wagakuni Kensei no Yurai, pp. 186–188Google Scholar. See also the essay on the “History of Political Parties in Japan” by ProfessorUkita, Kazutami and Itagaki, Counts and Okuma, in Okuma's, ShigenobuKaikoku Gojunen Shi, or “History of Fifty Years After the Opening of Japan” (Tokyo, 1907), Vol. I, pp. 134–136Google Scholar.

20 Tsumaki, , Shokiku Kido Ko Den, Vol. II, pp. 1797–1809Google Scholar; Tokutomi, Soho, Okubo Koto Sensei, or “Biography of Okubo” (Tokyo, 1928), pp. 372–378Google Scholar. See also Itagaki, Taisuke, Jiyuto Shi, or “History of the Liberal Party” (Tokyo, 1910), Vol. I, pp. 182–188Google Scholar. The latter work was not written by Itagaki, but by Tomoi Uda and Saburo Wada, who compiled it under his supervision.

21 Regarding the Seitai Torishirabe I-in (Commission for the Investigation of the Form of Government), see Tsumaki, , Shokiku Kido Ko Den, Vol. II, pp. 1818–1820Google Scholar; Itagaki, , Jiyuto Shi, Vol. I, pp. 190–191Google Scholar.

22 Horei Zensho, 1875, p. 8Google Scholar. For an English translation, see McLaren, W. W., Japanese Government Documents, pp. 41–42Google Scholar.

23 For an appraisal of the first session of the Chihokan Kaigi (Prefectural Governors Conference), which opened on July 20 and adjourned on July 17, 1875, see Osatake, Takeshi, Nippon Kensei Shi, pp. 128–135Google Scholar.

24 The Zamboritsu (Libel Law) and the Shimbunshi Jorei (Press Law) were promulgated in the Dajokwan Fukoku, or “Notifications of the Dajokwan,” No. 110 and 111, July 28, 1875. Compare Sasuhara, , Meiji Sei Shi, Vol. I, pp. 269–271Google Scholar.

25 Itagaki's, account of his resignation is found in his Jiyuto Shi, Vol. I, pp. 131–132Google Scholar.

26 For the Imperial Rescript of July 22, 1878, regulating the Fukenkai, or prefectural assemblies, see the Horei Zensho, 1878, pp. 12–15Google Scholar. For an English translation, see McLaren, , Japanese Government Documents, pp. 272–276Google Scholar.

27 Itagaki, , Jiyuto Shi, Vol. I, pp. 331–377Google Scholar.

28 The Shukai Jorei (Law Regulating Assemblies) was promulgated in the Dajokwan Fukoku, No. 12, April 5, 1880.

29 See Takekoshi, Yosaburo, Toan Ko, or “Prince Toan” (Tokyo, 1932), pp. 88–90Google Scholar. Prince Saionji soon withdrew as editor, but it is a significant fact that as a young man he openly opposed the Government.

30 Compare Watanabe, Ikujiro, Meiji Tenno to Rikken Seiji, or “Emperor Meiji and Constitutional Government” (Tokyo, 1935), pp. 79–81Google Scholar.

31 Ito Hirobumi (Hakubun) Hen: Kempo Shiryo, or “Materials Relating to the Constitution Preserved by Prince Hirobumi Ito” (Tokyo, 1934), Vol. III, pp. 345–444Google Scholar. The written opinions of nine members of the Genro-in regarding the project of 1880 are in the Ito archives. Ibid., Vol. III, pp. 396–442. See also the scholarly article of Yoshino, Sakuzo on “Drafts of the Japanese Constitution Prior to Promulgation,” in the Kokka Gakkai Zasshi, or “Journal of the Association of Political and Social Science” (Oct. 1928), Vol. XLII, pp. 293–304Google Scholar.

32 See his letter of December 21, 1879, to the Udaijin, Prince Tomoyoshi Iwakura.

33 Yamagata was the first of the Sangi to reply. See Yamagata Aritomo Ko Den, or “Life of Prince Aritomo Yamagata” (ed. by Tokutomi, Soho, Tokyo, 1933), Vol. II, pp. 841–848Google Scholar. All of the ikensho are reprinted in Otsu, , Dai Nippon Kensei Shi, Vol. II, pp. 370–410Google Scholar.

34 Itagaki, , Jiyuto Shi, Vol. I, pp. 501–502Google Scholar; Ichijima, Kenkichi, Okuma Ko Hachiju-go Nen Shi, or “History of the Eighty-Five Years of Marquis Okuma” (Tokyo, 1926), Vol. I, p. 846Google Scholar.

35 The text is in the Meiji Bunka Zenshu (ed. by Yoshino, ), Vol. III, pp. 433–438Google Scholar. See also Ichijima, , Okuma Ko Hachiju-go Nen Shi, Vol. I, pp. 796–808Google Scholar.

36 Ito Hirobumi Hiroku, or “Unpublished Papers of Hirobumi Ito” (ed. by Hiratsuka, Atsushi, Tokyo, 1929), pp. 208–216Google Scholar.

37 See Watanabe, , Meiji Tenno to Rikken Seiji, pp. 92–96Google Scholar.

38 For the text, see the Shimbun Shusei Meiji Hennen Shi, or “Chronological Record of the Meiji Era Selected from the Newspapers” (Tokyo, 1935), Vol. IV, p. 471Google Scholar. An English translation, as published in the Japan Daily Mail, 1881, p. 1199Google Scholar, is printed in McLaren, , Japanese Government Documents, pp. 86–87Google Scholar.

39 More exactly, Prince Iwakura, who was then the Udaijin (right mınister), acted in consultation with Prince Sanetomi Sanjo, who was the Dajodaijin (prime minister), and Prince Taruhito Arisugawa, who was the Sadaijin (left minister).

40 For the text, see Otsu, , Dai Nippon Kensei Shi, Vol. II, pp. 411–419, 788–796Google Scholar. These documents bear the date of July 6, 1881. See also Iwakura Ko Jikki, or “Authentic Biography of Prince Iwakura” (ed. by Tsunoda, Yoshimitsu, Tokyo, 1927), Vol. III, pp. 44–51Google Scholar; and Iwakura Tomoyoshi Kankei Bunsho, or “Documents Relating to Tomoyoshi Iwakura,” (edited by Otsuka, Takematsu and published by the Kyokai, Nippon Shiseki or Commission for the Publication of the Historical Documents of Japan” Tokyo, 1927), Vol. III, pp. 142–147Google Scholar.

41 Attention should be called to the great weight which the leader of the conservative school of jurisprudence, Professor Yatsuka Hozumi, always gave to the koryo of Prince Iwakura as the arbiter of all disputes regarding the question of ministerial responsibility under the constitution of 1889. See his Kempo Seitei no Yurai, or “Historical Sketch of the Framing of the Constitution,” in the Meiji Bunka Zenshu (ed. by Yoshino, ), Vol. IV, pp. 419–428Google Scholar.

42 For the imperial rescript of March 3, 1882, commissioning Ito to travel abroad for the purpose of investigating European constitutions, see Ito Ko Zenshu, or “Complete Papers of Prince Ito” (ed. by Komatsu, Midori, Tokyo, 1928), Vol. III, pp. 84–85Google Scholar.

43 The group included Prince Kimmochi Saionji, Miyoji Ito, Tosuke Hirata, Tomosada Iwakura, Jun Kawashima, Taizo Miyoshi, Naotane Yamazaki, Katamitsu Hirohashi, and Masaharu Yoshida.

44 Notes on the lectures by Professor Gneist under the title of “Seitetsu Yume Monogatari,” or “Dream Talks of a Western Pundit,” are published in the Meiji Bunka Zenshu (ed. by Yoshino, ), Vol. IV, pp. 429–496Google Scholar.

45 A résumé of Professor von Stein's lectures, under the title of Stein Shi Kogi Hikki, or “Notes on Professor Stein's Discourses,” was published by the Department of the Imperial Household in Tokyo in 1889. The text is reprinted in the Meiji Bunka Zenshu (ed. by Yoshino, ), Vol. IV, pp. 498–613Google Scholar.

46 His advice on constitutional questions is found in Ito Hirobumi Hen: Kempo Shiryo, Vol. III, pp. 99–157Google Scholar.

47 Compare Hayashita, Kametaro, Seikai Sokumenshi, or “Sidelights on Political Circles” (Tokyo, 1925), pp. 380–384Google Scholar.

48 The Sumitsuin Kansei oyobi Jimu Kitei, or “Imperial Ordinance regarding the Organization and Procedure of the Privy Council,” commonly cited as Imperial Ordinance No. 22 of 1888, is found in the Nippon Ruiten, or “Code of Laws” (ed. by Ichioka, S., Tokyo, 1889), Vol. I, pp. 512–516Google Scholar. An English translation, as published in Captain Brinkley's, FrankJapan Weekly Mail, May 12, 1888, pp. 444–445Google Scholar, is reprinted in McLaren, , Japanese Government Documents, pp. 127–132Google Scholar.

49 The Councillors on the Privy Council included: Count Hirobumi Ito, Count Munenori Terajima, Viscount Kiyonari Yoshida, Viscount Tsunetami Sano, Count Sumiyoshi Kawamura, Toshikama Kono, Viscount Kotei Pukuoka, Count Takayuki Sasaki, Count Awa Katsu, Count Takato Oki, Count Michitoshi Higashikuze, Count Koyata Torio, Viscount Yajiro Shinagawa, Eifu Motoda, Count Taneomi Soyejima, Viscount Yasushi Nomura, Count Tomozane Yoshii. The members of the cabinet were: Count Kiyotaka Kuroda (prime minister), Count Shigenobu Okuma (foreign affairs), Count Tsugumichi Saigo (navy), Count Kaoru Inouye (agriculture and commerce), Count Akiyoshi Yamada (justice), Count Masayoshi Matsugata (finance and home affairs), Count Iwao Oyama (war), Viscount Arinori Mori (education), and Viscount Takeaki Enomoto (communications).

50 See statement that Count Okuma made to Kentaro Kaneko. Kaneko, , “Historical Sketch of the Framing of the Constitution,” in the Meiji Kensei Keizai Shiron (ed. by the Gakkai, Kokka, 1919), pp. 83–87Google Scholar.

51 Not even the Ito Hirobumi Hen: Kempo Shiryo, edited by Atsushi Hiratsuka and Count Kentaro Kaneko, contains the text of this project.

52 Regarding the evidence on this subject, see Otsu, , Dai Nippon Kensei Shi, Vol. III, pp. 82–84Google Scholar; Watanabe, , Meiji Tenno to Rikken Seiji, pp. 69, 116–124, 132Google Scholar; Osatake, , Nippon Kensei Shi, pp. 364–373Google Scholar.

53 Compare Itagaki's, “Development of Constitutional Government in Japan,” in Meiji Kensei Keizai Shiron, p. 254Google Scholar.

54 Kampo, or “Imperial Gazette,” Feb. 11, 1889, pp. 224–226Google Scholar; Ito Hirobumi Hen: Kempo Shiryo, Vol. I, pp. 1–38Google Scholar.

55 For the Kazoku Rei (Ordinance Regarding the Peerage), see the Kunaisho Tasshi, or the Notification of the Imperial Household Department, July 7, 1884; and the Genko Horei Shuran, or “Compilation of Laws and Ordinances in Force” (Tokyo, 1907), Vol. I, bk. vii, pp. 345–346Google Scholar. For an English translation, as published in the Japan Weekly Mail, July 12, 1884, p. 32, see McLaren, , Japanese Government Documents, pp. 89–90Google Scholar.

56 The memorial of Prince Sanjo and the Imperial Proclamation No. 69, December 22, 1885, creating the Naikaku in place of the Dajokwan, or council of state, is found in the Horei Zensho, or “Collection of Laws and Ordinances” (Tokyo, 1890), 1885, pp. 1–3, 1044–1046Google Scholar. For English translations of these documents, as published in the Japan Weekly Mail, Dec. 26, 1885, pp. 618–619Google Scholar, see McLaren, , Japanese Government Documents, pp. 90–97Google Scholar. For the Naikaku Kansei, or Imperial Ordinance Regarding the Organization of the Cabinet, Nos. 1 and 2, February 26, 1886, see the Horei Zensho, 1886, pp. 19–27Google Scholar. Compare Kaneko, Kentaro, “Reminiscences of the Initiation of the Cabinet System,” in Chuo Koron (Tokyo), Feb. 1936, Vol. LI, no. 2, 115–122Google Scholar; Sasuhara, , Meiji Sei Shi, Vol. II, pp. 126–129Google Scholar.

57 The Sumitsuin Kansei oyobi Jimu Kitei, or Imperial Ordinance regarding the Organization and Procedure of the Privy Council, April 22, 1888.

58 See Itagaki, , Jiyuto Shi, Vol. I, pp. 221–226Google Scholar.

59 Okuma Ko Hachiju-go Nen Shi (ed. by Ichijima, ), Vol. II, pp. 1–4Google Scholar.

60 This party, the Constitutional Imperial party, had been founded by Genichiro Fukuchi, Torajiro Mizuno, Sakura Maruyama, and other conservatives.

61 The provisions of the Hoan Jorei, or Peace Preservation Law, of December 25, 1887 (Imperial Ordinance No. 67), were particularly severe. Compare Itagaki, , Jiyuto Shi, Vol. I, p. 543Google Scholar.

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