Constitution of Japan

Japan’s postwar constitution, effective since 1947, establishes popular sovereignty, fundamental rights, and a pacifist state that renounces war.

Popular sovereignty: The principle that political authority derives from the people. It replaced the emperor’s sovereignty with the people as the source of governmental authority.
Allied occupation of Japan: The Allied military administration of Japan from its surrender in 1945 until 1952. Occupation authorities oversaw the constitutional reforms that produced the 1947 charter.
Parliamentary system: A system of government in which the executive depends on the confidence of the legislature. Japan’s cabinet is responsible to the Diet, linking executive authority to parliamentary support.
Japan Self-Defense Forces: Japan’s military organization, established in 1954 and officially tasked with national defense. Their existence alongside Article 9 has made the constitutional meaning of self-defense contested.
Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan: The constitutional provision renouncing war and limiting Japan’s military forces. This article gives the constitution its distinctive commitment to pacifism.
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers: The Allied occupation command in Japan, led by General Douglas MacArthur. Its staff prepared a draft after rejecting the Japanese government’s initial proposal.
Cabinet of Japan: Japan’s executive body, led by the prime minister and composed of other ministers. The constitution gives the cabinet executive power and makes it collectively responsible to the Diet.
Japanese security legislation of 2015: Laws enacted in 2015 that expanded the circumstances in which Japan could exercise collective self-defense. The laws tested how far Article 9 could be reinterpreted without constitutional amendment.
Emperor of Japan: Japan’s hereditary monarch, whose constitutional role is ceremonial and symbolic. The constitution retained the emperor while removing political governing power.
Matsumoto Committee: The Japanese government committee that prepared a proposed constitutional revision in 1945–46. Its conservative draft was judged inadequate by occupation authorities, prompting a rival draft.

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