Ray A. Moore and Donald L. Robinson
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195151169
- eISBN:
- 9780199833917
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019515116X.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
Shows how General MacArthur, early in February 1946, seized on a “scoop” by the newspaper Mainichi that convinced him that the Japanese cabinet was making little headway toward revising the ...
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Shows how General MacArthur, early in February 1946, seized on a “scoop” by the newspaper Mainichi that convinced him that the Japanese cabinet was making little headway toward revising the Constitution. It recounts how a small group of officers at Government Section, under the leadership of General Whitney, Colonel Kades and Commander Hussey, drafted a model constitution for Japan in a week's time. Built on the parliamentary model, it placed sovereignty in the people, kept the emperor as a “symbol” of the nation, banned war and armed forces, and set forth a new bill of rights. The chapter concludes with the dramatic presentation of the draft to stunned representatives of the Japanese cabinet on Wednesday, February 13.Less
Shows how General MacArthur, early in February 1946, seized on a “scoop” by the newspaper Mainichi that convinced him that the Japanese cabinet was making little headway toward revising the Constitution. It recounts how a small group of officers at Government Section, under the leadership of General Whitney, Colonel Kades and Commander Hussey, drafted a model constitution for Japan in a week's time. Built on the parliamentary model, it placed sovereignty in the people, kept the emperor as a “symbol” of the nation, banned war and armed forces, and set forth a new bill of rights. The chapter concludes with the dramatic presentation of the draft to stunned representatives of the Japanese cabinet on Wednesday, February 13.
Ray A. Moore and Donald L. Robinson
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195151169
- eISBN:
- 9780199833917
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019515116X.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
Describes the Legislation Bureau's efforts to simplify the language of the draft. The cabinet embraced the idea of making the basic law more available to the people, and allowed the Legislation ...
More
Describes the Legislation Bureau's efforts to simplify the language of the draft. The cabinet embraced the idea of making the basic law more available to the people, and allowed the Legislation Bureau to re‐write the March 6 draft from difficult literary Japanese to the common spoken language. As government ministries submitted their comments and suggestions on the content of the draft, Irie and Satō negotiated with Kades and Hussey to clarify the draft's language but the Americans allowed no further substantive changes. By April 17, agreement was reached on a final draft in the form of a legislative bill written in colloquial Japanese, and a new English‐language draft.Less
Describes the Legislation Bureau's efforts to simplify the language of the draft. The cabinet embraced the idea of making the basic law more available to the people, and allowed the Legislation Bureau to re‐write the March 6 draft from difficult literary Japanese to the common spoken language. As government ministries submitted their comments and suggestions on the content of the draft, Irie and Satō negotiated with Kades and Hussey to clarify the draft's language but the Americans allowed no further substantive changes. By April 17, agreement was reached on a final draft in the form of a legislative bill written in colloquial Japanese, and a new English‐language draft.
