Directory_and_Chronicle_1935 — Page 277

JAPAN

i

:

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 is known as the Emperor. The word "Mikado" is only one of many honorific titles and has never been in general use among the Japanese.

}

i.

Hirohito, the reigning monarch, succeeded to the throne in December, 1927, and the coronation ceremonies were performed in Kyoto in November, 1928. His Majesty is thirty-six years of

age and is, according to Japanese chronology, partly mythical, the 124th of an unbroken dynasty, founded 660 B.C."

The power of the Mikado was formerly absolute, but its exercise was controlled to some extent by custom and public opinion. The Emperor Mutsuhita, posthumously and ordinarily known as the Emperor Meiji in 1875, when the Senate and Supreme Judicial Tribunal were founded, solemnly declared his earnest desire to have a con- stitutional 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 matters, 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 Emperor acts through an Executive Ministry divided into eleven departments, Gwaimu Sho (Foreign Affairs), Naimu Slo (Interior), Okura Sho (Finance), Kaigun Sho (Navy), Rikugun Shio (Army), Shiho Sho (Justice), Monibu Sho (Education), Norin, Sho-Agriculture and Forestry), Shoko Sho (Commerce and Industry), Teishin Sho (Com munications) Takumusho (Overseas Affairs) and Testudo-sho (Railways). 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 Parliament- ary system is bicameral, the House of Peers and the House of Representatives, con- stituting the 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. Chosen or Corea, which was annexed by Japan in 1910, Formosa, and the Kwantung Province of Manchuria are governed as colonies with a Governor General, or, in the case of Kwantung, a Governor, under the general supervision of the Ministry of Overseas Affairs. Kwantung Province was originally leased by Russia from China, the lease being taken over by Japan as a result of the Russo-Japanese war. 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 liave 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 51 local Courts, and the seven Supreme Courts at Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Miyagi, and Sapporo, over which the Daislin-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 they negotiated treaties of peace and commerce. The Shogunate was founded in 1184 by Yoritomo, a general of great valour and ability, and was continued through several dynasties until 1868, when the Tokugawa family were dispossessed of the usurped authority. Under the Shogun 300 or more Dainios (feudal princes) shared

J