Documents with Commentaries Part 3 Formulation of the GHQ Draft and Response of the Japanese Government

3-28 Far Eastern Commission Request for Consultation on Japanese Constitution

 The Far Eastern Commission (FEC) started operations by holding its first meeting in Washington DC on February 26, 1946. With the unexpected announcement by the Japanese government of the "Outline of a Draft for a Revised Constitution" and MacArthur's comments in its support, the FEC set off a controversy criticizing MacArthur for overstepping his authority. In a document dated March 20, the FEC insisted that it must be given the opportunity to examine the proposed Constitution prior to its approval. On April 10, the FEC requested that a member of MacArthur's Staff at GHQ be dispatched to Washington for consultations regarding the problems with revising the Constitution, but MacArthur refused their request.

 In Tokyo, at the first meeting of the Allied Council for Japan on April 5, MacArthur asserted that the Japanese people were discussing the proposed Constitution widely and freely, which would lead to conformance with the Allied policies.

 However, McCoy, the U.S. representative and Chairman of the FEC, did not support MacArthur on the constitution problem. Professor Kenneth Colegrove, a political scholar dispatched to Japan as a political consultant to GHQ on constitutional matters, explained this to General Whitney, the Chief of Government Section (Whitney document dated April 24). In a telegram dated April 25, Chairman McCoy appealed on his own to MacArthur, writing that the FEC should be allowed to consider the new Constitution prior to its completion. However, Colegrove was aware through his contact with several intellectuals in Japan that the proposed Constitution held widespread support, and therefore he advocated the GHQ position by informing McCoy that deliberation by the FEC would take up time (April 26 document).

 The FEC called for an extension to the general elections in the House of Representatives scheduled for April 10, asserting that the people had been given practically no time to consider the constitutional problem. Yet the general election went on according to schedule, and it virtually became programmed that the "Bill for Revision of Imperial Constitution" would be discussed in the 90th session of the Imperial Diet. With the convening of the Imperial Diet on May 13 quickly approaching, the FEC established its "Criteria for the Adoption of a New Japanese Constitution" to ensure that "adequate time and opportunity be allowed for the full discussion and consideration," "complete legal continuity from the Constitution of 1889 to the new Constitution be assured," and that "it affirmatively expresses the free will of the Japanese people."

• Back
• Next

Copyright©2003-2004 National Diet Library All Rights Reserved.

• 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
• Archives

• Historical Figures
• Glossary and Abbreviations
• List of Documents
• Chronological Table
• The Constitution and Other Documents
• Links
• Bibliography
• About This Site

• National Diet Library
• Gallery
• Site Map
• Top Page
• Japanese