Japanese constitution 2015/5/3
May 3rd is a National Holiday to memorize the present constitution which has been enforced from on that day of 1947.
The first constitution in Japan was issued by Prince Shotoku in 604. This constitution was composed of 17 articles and famous for the first article which declares that it is the most important to cherish the harmony among people.
Although these articles were issued under the name of a constitution, it was not for general public but for bureaucrats as their directions.
Since then there have been principal laws in Japanese society but no laws were available under the name of a constitution until Meiji revolution.
After Meiji revolution, the new government studied hard about European society, organization and laws for more than 20 years and finally issued Meiji constitution in 1889 which followed the European way of laws and also took Japanese specific history and situation into consideration.
After the defeat of Great Asia War, occupation troops forced to abolish Meiji constitution and make a new constitution. The draft was made by the troops in a week. Just after the war, United Nations wished to change Japanese mentality so that they would never fight back against United Nations. The new constitution would not allow Japan to appeal to weapons in order to solve international conflicts.
The present constitution which was roughly drafted by laymen contains lots of controversial points and extremely unusual one in comparison with other nation’s constitutions. Therefore many sensible Japanese consider that the present constitution should be revised as soon as possible.
Prince Shotoku
