The Constitution of Japan, successor
to the Constitution of the Empire of Japan (1889; also known
as the Meiji Constitution), was promulgated on November 3, 1946,
and took effect on May 3 the following year. Consisting of eleven
chapters with a total of 103 articles, it is based on the following
three principles: sovereignty of the people, pacifism, and respect
for basic human rights. The first principle is explicitly stated
in the preamble: "We, the Japanese people, ...do proclaim
that sovereign power resides with the people and do firmly establish
this Constitution." The Constitution defines the emperor
as the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people, and
provides that the emperor shall have no powers related to government,
acting only in certain matters of state.(*1)
In January 2000, the Diet established a Research Commission
on the Constitution in both the House of Councillors and the
House of Representatives for the purpose of discussing the process
by which the present Constitution was formulated and its problems.
The Commissions were mandated to reach a conclusion within about
five years' time. They have no powers, however, to submit bills
to the Diet. In November 2002 the House of Representatives'
Research Commission submitted an interim report on its deliberations,
containing arguments both for constitutional revision and for
maintaining the Constitution in its present form.
In September 2003, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pledged
that his own Liberal Democratic Party will draw up a reform
draft by 2005 when the ruling party celebrates the 50th anniversary
of its founding.(*2) Naoto Kan, who leads the Democratic Party
of Japan, the nation's largest opposition party, also proposed
drafting by 2006 a plan for constitutional amendment at the
party's January 2004 convention.(*3)
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