Meiji Constitution

Constitution of the Empire of Japan
Constitution of the Empire of Japan
	Preamble of the Constitution
Overview
Original title	大日本帝国憲法 (Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kenpō)
Jurisdiction	Empire of Japan
Created	February 11, 1889 (Meiji 22)
Presented	April 1888
Date effective	November 29, 1890
System	Unitary parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy
Government structure
Branches	Three
Head of state	The Emperor
Chambers	Bicameral (Imperial Diet: House of Representatives, House of Peers)
Executive	Cabinet, led by a Prime Minister
Judiciary	Supreme Court
Federalism	Unitary
Electoral college	No
History
First legislature	February, 11 1889 (HP); July 1, 1890 (HR);
First executive	1885
Repealed	May 3, 1947
Amendments	0 (no amendments)
Location	National Archives of Japan
Author(s)	Inoue Kowashi, Kaneko Kentarō, Itō Miyoji and Iwakura Tomomi, along with a number of foreign advisors
Signatories	Emperor Meiji on February 11, 1889
Supersedes	Tokugawa Shogunate
Full text
	Constitution of the Empire of Japan at Wikisource
	大日本帝国憲法 (Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kenpō) at Japanese Wikisource

The Constitution of the Empire of Japan (Kyūjitai: 大日本帝國憲法; Shinjitai: 大日本帝国憲法, romanized: Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kenpō), known informally as the Meiji Constitution (明治憲法, Meiji Kenpō), was the constitution of the Empire of Japan which was proclaimed on February 11, 1889, and remained in force between November 29, 1890, and May 2, 1947.^[1] Enacted after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, it provided for a form of mixed constitutional and absolute monarchy, based jointly on the German and British models.^[2] In theory, the Emperor of Japan was the supreme leader, and the Cabinet, whose Prime Minister would be elected by a Privy Council, were his followers; in practice, the Emperor was head of state but the Prime Minister was the actual head of government. Under the Meiji Constitution, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet were not necessarily chosen from the elected members of parliament.

During the American Occupation of Japan the Meiji Constitution was replaced with the "Postwar Constitution" on November 3, 1946; the latter document has been in force since May 3, 1947. In order to maintain legal continuity, the Postwar Constitution was enacted as an amendment to the Meiji Constitution.

^ "Meiji Constitution | 1889, Japan". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
^ Hein, Patrick (2009). How the Japanese became foreign to themselves : the impact of globalization on the private and public spheres in Japan. Berlin: Lit. p. 72. ISBN 978-3643100856.

[1] "Meiji Constitution | 1889, Japan". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved August 21, 2017.

[2] Hein, Patrick (2009). How the Japanese became foreign to themselves : the impact of globalization on the private and public spheres in Japan. Berlin: Lit. p. 72. ISBN 978-3643100856.

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