How Did The 1947 Constitution A Parliamentary Form Of Government

Among the most basic of political issues are those relating to the structure of government. The structure of Japanese government today is unitary, with the central government located in Tokyo. This has almost always been the case. First, Nara, then Heian (Kyoto), then Kamakura, and finally Edo, renamed Tokyo with the Meiji Restoration, have served as central governments for Japan. Under the Shogunate, Japanese Emperors in Kyoto reigned but did not rule. Power was centralized in the hands of the shogun until the end of the Tokugawa reign in 1868. Even with the bcoming of the gentro during Meiji Emperor had no real power. Under the 1947 Constitution, all sovereignty lies with the Japanese people as represented in the Diet. Still, in Japan today,

Unlike the separation of powers idea central to American political theory and practice, parliamentary forms stress more cohesion between the executive and legislative functions, a style of governance more in keeping with Japanese experience under the Meiji Constitution, despite the breakdown in practice. Parliamentary systems require majority parties, or coalitions in the absence of a one-party majority, to form a government. The leader of a majority party or coalition then names a cabinet that runs the various state ministries. Elections for the House of representatives are scheduled every four years but only if the government does not lose a confidence vote. Under the Japanese constitution today, if a majority in the House votes no confidence in the government, fails to sustain a confidence motion, of if the prime minister chooses to dissolve the House, then an election for the House must be held within 40 days from the date of the dissolution. It is customary for the prime minister to give a policy speech prior to dissolving the

The first Diet met in 1890 following the first election. It is the oldest national assembly in Asia. Like other organs of the state government of that time, the Diet was modeled after Western precedents and based on observations that various Japanese leaders made on several trips to Europe beginning with the Iwakura mission. German constitutional precedents were favored by Ito Hirobumi as reflected in the choice for the name of the representative assembly. The first Diet consisted of an upper and a lower house, as does the present Diet. All titles of nobility, however, were abolished at the end of World War II. Early Diet sessions were not especially representative. Only about 1.5 percent of the population was eligible to vote for members of the lower house. Early sessions only lasted about three months. Today’s Diet consists of a House of Representatives, which consists of 500 members – beginning with the election under the new election law in 1996- and a House of Councilors consisting of 252 members. House members sit for four-year terms or until election resulting from no-confidence votes are called. Upper house members sit for six-year terms with half of the total elected every three years. The last upper house election was held in the summer of 1995. Today, the Diet, the legislative branch of the national government, is the “highest organ of state power” and is the “sole law-making organ of the