Constitutions

Article 9 is a section in the new 1946 Japanese constitution which amended completely the old Meiji constitution. One of the objectives of the Allied Occupation was to demilitarize Japan so that it could never again go to war. After the demobilization of the Japanese military, Article 9 was added to the constitution with the… [Read more]

The Japanese political system was reformed by the Allied Occupation after 1945 in ways that were intended to democratize the country by removing impediments to democracy and by imposing some new institutions. At the top on the national level, the emperor is now a ceremonial institution, much like the British monarchy. The institution still has,… [Read more]

The Meiji constitution was promulgated by the emperor in 1889 and was replaced by the present constitution which was promulgated in November 1946 and put into action in May 1947. The Meiji constitution was flexible enough to permit considerable change; it left ambiguous the relationship between several major institutions of government and was long criticized… [Read more]

One of the most important areas of constitutional law that was changed in the 1946 constitution was civil liberties and rights. The old Meiji constitution placed significant limitations on all the basic rights which many countries have come to accept: freedom of speech was guaranteed subject to the limitations of laws which could be changed;… [Read more]