Documents with Commentaries Part 1 Military Defeat and Efforts to Reform the Constitution

1-17 Study in Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Constitution Reform

 These are documents related to the study of the problem of constitutional reform that was carried out in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the beginning of October 1945. As the Potsdam Declaration and Initial Policy for Japan were based on demands for reform of the Japanese political system including the Emperor system, the First Division of the Bureau of Political Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the first efforts at reforming the political system "independently and promptly" which included reforms to the Constitution, as it was considered prudent to anticipate the demands for reform put forth by the Allied Powers. Also within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Keiichi Tatsuke, Director of the Second Division and acting Director of the First Division in the Bureau of Treaties, created the "Tentative Proposal on the Problem of Revision of the Constitution" and argued that "revision should be done autonomously." We can also see in the "General Proposal for Constitutional Reform,"probably created by the Bureau of Treaties, the beginning of policies to maintain the Emperor's status along with "direct connection between the Emperor and his subjects " and "democratic government based on the popular will for the welfare of the people" as a way to maintain the Emperor system.

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• Outline
  1. Outline Part 1 Military Defeat and Efforts to Reform the Constitution
  2. Outline Part 2 Creation of Various Proposals to Reform the Constitution
  3. Outline Part 3 Formulation of the GHQ Draft and Response of the Japanese Government
  4. Outline Part 4 Deliberations in the Imperial Diet
  5. Outline Part 5 Enactment of the Constitution of Japan
• Documents with Commentaries
  1. Documents with Commentaries Part 1 Military Defeat and Efforts to Reform the Constitution
  2. Documents with Commentaries Part 2 Creation of Various Proposals to Reform the Constitution
  3. Documents with Commentaries Part 3 Formulation of the GHQ Draft and Response of the Japanese Government
  4. Documents with Commentaries Part 4 Deliberations in the Imperial Diet
  5. Documents with Commentaries Part 5 Enactment of the Constitution of Japan
• Main Issues
  1. Popular Sovereignty and the Emperor System
  2. Renunciation of War
  3. Guarantees for Fundamental Human Rights
  4. A New Bicameral System
  5. Judicial Review of Constitutionality
  6. Local Self-Government
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