Opening Ceremony of the First Session of the Diet, June 23, 1947

5-4 Opening Ceremony of the First Session of the Diet, June 23, 1947

These are records of the Secretariat about the opening ceremony of the first session of the Diet under the new Constitution. The Prime Minister at this time was Tetsu Katayama, a member of the Social Democratic Party. The Imperial Message begins, "Today, I am filled with a profound joy to see the people gathered to represent all the people of Japan at this, the opening ceremony of the first session of the Diet." Prior to this speech, the Emperor had always referred to himself with the Imperial appellation "Chin" (similar to the Royal We). This was the first time he had used the more common "Watakushi," translated here as "I." Of the 712 seats in the spectators' gallery, people connected to the Allied Powers accounted for 180.

Actual Title of Source	[Dai Ikkai Kokkai Kaikaishiki]
Date	June 23, 1947
Document Number	Kondo Hideaki Papers: 11
Repository (reproduction)
Repository	National Diet Library
Note	Contents : agenda, plan of seats, speech, Imperial Message

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