Directory_and_Chronicle_1925 — Page 524

JAPAN

CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT

The government of the Japanese Empire was anciently, in theory at least, that of an absolute monarchy, but the real administrative and executive power was in the hands of the Shogun and his clansmen. In the year 1868 the Imperialist party over- threw, after a short war, the power of the Shogun, together with that of the Daimios, or feudal nobles, who, on the 25th June, 1869, resigned their lands, revenues, and retainers to the Mikado, by whom they were permitted to retain one-tenth of their original incomes, but ordered to reside in the capital in future. The sovereign bears the name of Emperor, but the appellation by which he has been generally known in foreign countries is the ancient title of Mikado.

Yoshihito, the reigning monarch, was born on October 31st, 1879, married Princess Sadako, a daughter of Prince Kujo, on May 10th, 1900; and on July 30th, 1912, succeeded his father, Mutsuhito, whose reign extended over a period of 45 years. The reigning Emperor is, according to Japanese chronology partly mythical, the 122nd of an unbroken dynasty, founded 660 B.C. Owing to his illness, the Crown Prince is acting as Regent.

The power of the Mikado was formerly absolute, but its exercise was controlled to some extent by custom and public opinion. The Emperor Mutsuhito, in 1875, when the Senate and Supreme Judicial Tribunal were founded, solemnly declared his earnest desire to have a constitutional system of government. The Mikado has long been regarded as the spiritual as well as the temporal head of the Empire, but, although the Shinto faith is held to be a form of national religion, the Emperor does not interfere in religious mat- ters, and all religions are tolerated in Japan. The Ecclesiastical Department was in 1877 reduced to a simple bureau under the control of the Minister of the Interior. The Mikado acts through an Executive Ministry divided into nine departments, namely:— Gwaimu Sho (Foreign Affairs), Naimu Sho (Interior), Okura Sho (Finance), Kaigun Sho (Navy), Rikugun Sho (Army), Shiho Sho (Justice), Mombu Sho (Education), Noshomu Sho (Agriculture and Commerce), and Teishin Sho (Communications). In 1888 a Privy Council, modelled on that of Great Britain, was constituted. The new Constitution, promised by the Mikado, was proclaimed on the 11th February, 1889, and in July, 1890, the first Parliament was elected; it met on the 29th November. The Parliamentary system is bicameral, the House of Peers and the House of Representatives constituting tlie Imperial Diet.

The Empire is divided for administrative purposes into three Fu, or urban prefectures (Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka), and 43 Ken, or prefectures, including the Loochoo Islands, which have been converted into a ken and named Okinawa. The island of Yezo is under a separate administration called Hokkaido-cho, so also is Chosen (the name Japan has given to the Kingdom of Corea, which she formally annexed in 1910), but Formosa is governed as a colony, and the same may also be said of the Kwantung Province of Manchuria, which Japan acquired after the war with Russia. The fu and ken are governed by prefects, who are all of equal rank, are under the control of the Ministry of the Interior and have limited powers, being required to submit every matter, unless there is a precedent for it, to the Minister of the Interior. Nor have they any concern in judicial proceedings, which come under the cognizance of the 48 local Courts and the seven Supreme Courts at Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Nagasaki Miyagi, and Hakodate, over which the Daishin-In presides at Tokyo.

Previous to the last change of Government, which restored the ancient Imperial régime, the administrative authority rested with the Shogun (Military Commander), whom foreigners were at first led to recognise as the temporal sovereign, and with whom m they negotiated treaties of peace and commerce. The Shogunate was founded in