Japan’s first constitution, the Meiji Constitution, was presented to the public in 1889 and government under its provisions began the next year with the first elected parliament. It was formulated in the period 1881-1889 by Ito Hirobumi on a German model after extensive consideration of French, American and British alternatives. Although it was progressive according to the standards of the day, it was criticized as a conservative document which made the state superior to the people whose role it was to serve the emperor and state. The constitution was radically rewritten in 1946.
