The Constitution of Japan, which came into
effect in 1947, is based on the principles of
popular sovereignty, respect for fundamental
human rights, and the advocacy of peace.
Japan’s political system is one of
constitutional democracy. In accordance with
the principle of “separation of powers,” the
activities of the national government are
formally divided into legislative, judicial, and
executive organs.
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GOVERNMENTAL STRUCTURE
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The emperor is “the symbol of the State
and unity of the people.” The emperor
appoints the prime minister and chief judge of
the Supreme Court as designated by the Diet,
and performs “only such acts in matters of
state” as provided for in the constitution along
with the advice and approval of the cabinet,
such as promulgation of amendments of the
constitution, laws, cabinet orders and treaties,
convocation of the Diet, dissolution of the
House of Representatives, and so forth.
The Constitution of Japan proclaims a
system of representative democracy in which
the Diet is “the highest organ of state power.”
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Diet Building
Completed in 1936, the
Diet Building is built from
domestically quarried
granite and covers an
area of 12,400 square
meters. （Photo courtesy
of AFLO）
Separation of Powers
It is formally specified that the Diet, as the
core of Japan’s system of governance, takes
precedence over the government’s executive
branch. The designation of the prime minister,
who heads the executive branch, is done by
resolution of the Diet. Japan practices a
system of parliamentary cabinet by which the
prime minister appoints the majority of the
cabinet members from among members of
the Diet. The cabinet thus works in solidarity
with the Diet and is responsible to it. In this
respect, the system is similar to that of Great
Britain, but different from that of the United
States, where the three branches of
government are theoretically on a level of
perfect equality.
The Diet is divided into two chambers: the
lower chamber, or the House of
Representatives, and the upper chamber, or
the House of Councillors. The House of
Representatives may introduce “noconfidence
motions” with respect to the
cabinet. The cabinet, on the other hand, is
able to dissolve the House of Representatives.
It also has the authority to designate the chief
judge and appoint the other judges of the
Supreme Court. It is the Supreme Court that
determines the constitutionality of any law or
official act. The constitution authorizes the
Diet to “set up an impeachment court from
among the members of both houses in order
to try any judges against whom removal
proceedings have been instituted.”
Japan’s Diet is designated in the constitution
as “the highest organ of state power.” The
Diet is made up of members who are directly
elected by citizens of at least 20 years of age.
The political parties, to which almost all Diet
members belong, are the basic units of
political activity. Thus Japan is said to
practice party politics. The prime minister is
chosen by the Diet from among its members.
The prime minister then forms a cabinet, and
the cabinet controls the executive branch of
government.
The Diet is the “sole law-making organ of
the State.” All legislations must follow a
The Diet as the Legislative
Branch of Government
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The Prime Minister’s official residence and
workplace
Cabinet meetings are held here.
(Photo courtesy of AFLO)
process leading to final approval in the Diet.
The Diet has additional important functions,
such as approving the national budget,
ratifying international treaties, and setting in
motion any formal proposals for amending the
constitution. Three categories of Diet
sessions are held: ordinary, extraordinary,
and special. The ordinary session, which is
convened once a year during January with a
term of 150 days, plays the central role
because that is where Diet members
deliberate on the next year’s budget and the
laws necessary to implement that budget.
Although the House of Councillors and the
House of Representatives share power, the
latter predominates in decisions on legislation,
designation of the prime minister, budgetary
matters, and international treaties. For
example, if a bill is passed by the House of
Representatives but the House of Councillors
deliberates otherwise (rejecting the bill or
insisting on alterations), the bill will
nevertheless become law if resubmitted to the
House of Representatives and approved by
two thirds of the members present.
One must be at least 25 years old to be
eligible for election to the House of
Representatives. As of 2013, the number of
members of the House of Representatives is
480. Of these, 300 are chosen according to
the single-seat constituency system, by which
just one person is elected from each district.
The other 180 are chosen as per a
proportional representation system whereby
seats are distributed to preferred party
members according to the proportion of the
vote received by the party. Members of the
House of Representatives are elected for
four-year terms, but the cabinet may dissolve
the House of Representatives before the end
of a full term.
One must be at least 30 years old to be
elected to the House of Councillors. In 2001
the total number of members was reduced
from 252 to 247, and in 2004 it was reduced
to 242. As of 2012, of the 242 current seats,
146 are filled according to the electoral district
system and the remaining 96 are filled based
on a proportional representation system. All
members are chosen for six-year terms. Half
of the total number are chosen every three
years. Members of the House of Councillors
remain in their positions whether or not there
is a dissolution of the House of
Representatives.
The cabinet, the majority of whose members
must come from the Diet, is the supreme
decision-making organ of the executive
branch of government. The prime minister,
who heads the cabinet, has the right to
appoint and dismiss ministers of state
(kokumu daijin) who make up the cabinet. He
or she presides over cabinet meetings and
may exercise his or her right to control and
guide the various sectors of the state
administrative apparatus. So-called cabinet
resolutions are reached on the basis of a
unanimity of views. The prime minister and all
members of the cabinet must be, according to
the constitution, civilians.
The constitution also states, “executive
power shall be vested in the Cabinet.”
However, the cabinet has under its control
and coordination a number of ministries and
other central administrative organs to which it
delegates the exercise and control of many
routine tasks of Japan’s central government.
As part of reform efforts that were aimed
at increasing the efficiency and effectiveness
of government operations, in January 2001
the executive branch of the government
underwent an extensive reorganization in
which the number of existing ministries and
ministry-level commissions and agencies, 22
at that time, was cut almost in half. In addition
to the newly created Cabinet Office, the
cabinet includes 11 ministries, the 11th being
created in January 2007 when the Defense
The Cabinet and the Executive
Branch of Government
3 GOVERNMENTAL STRUCTURE
Agency became the Ministry of Defense. As
of 2011, each ministry is headed by a minister
of state appointed by the prime minister. Each
minister is assisted by one or two senior viceministers
and up to three parliamentary
secretaries. These officials are usually
members of the Diet.
The Cabinet Office was created by the
2001 reorganization in order to strengthen
cabinet functions and the prime minister’s
overall policy leadership capability. Headed
by the prime minister, the Cabinet Office
drafts plans and provides comprehensive
coordination from a level one step above
other government ministries and agencies.
The Cabinet Office oversees the Imperial
Household Agency and three external
bureaus: Fair Trade Commission, National
Public Safety Commission, and Financial
Services Agency. In addition to the ministers
of state for special missions, the Cabinet
Office also includes the following three
important policy councils: Council for Science
and Technology Policy, Central Disaster
Management Council, and Council for Gender
Equality.
Taken together, the Cabinet Office, the
ministries, and the various agencies and
commissions are known as the central
government offices (chuo shocho). As of 2011,
Japan’s central government offices operate
according to a system based on a pyramidal
structure of rank. Responsibility for setting the
boundaries of authority of the posts within
each ministry and agency rests in the hands
of the cabinet members.
In Japan, persons who are engaged in
administrative activities in the various central
government offices, including vice ministers
(jimu jikan) and all ordinary public servants of
lesser rank, are selected on the basis of
national public service examinations; their
jobs are not political appointments nor are
they subject to being lost as a result of
political power changes at the cabinet level.
After the reorganization of government
ministries, the privatization of Japan National
Railways, and the recent privatization of the
postal service in 2007, the number of national
public servants (excluding members of the
Japan Self-Defense Forces) stood at 340,613
as of 2011. At the end of January 2001,
before the ministries were reorganized, the
number of public servants totaled 1.268
million.
The constitution specifies that “all public
officials are servants of the whole community
and not of any group thereof.”
In Japan, the independent standing of the
judicial branch of government is protected,
and the constitution stipulates that “no
disciplinary action against judges shall be
administered by any executive organ or
agency.” All legal conflicts, whether of a civil,
administrative, or criminal nature, are subject
to judgment in courts of law. Established by
the constitution, the Supreme Court is
Japan’s highest judicial organ. There are four
types of lower courts, whose numbers and
English designations (as of December 2013)
are as follows: 8 high courts, 50 district courts,
50 family courts, and 438 summary courts.
According to the constitution, no so-called
extraordinary tribunal is to be established,
“nor shall any organ or agency of the
Executive be given final judicial power.”
According to article 6 of the constitution,
“the Emperor shall appoint the Chief Judge of
the Supreme Court, as designated by the
Cabinet,” while the cabinet directly appoints
the other 14 Supreme Court judges. To be
eligible for nomination, as indicated in the
Law on Courts, one must be a person “of high
discernment, well grounded in law, and at
least 40 years old.” A minimum of 10
members must be selected from among those
who distinguish themselves as judges, public
prosecutors, lawyers, and professors or
assistant professors in legal science in
universities; the rest need not be jurists. All
judges of the Supreme Court must be
reviewed by the people in the first general
election following appointments, and every 10
years thereafter. The retirement age is 70.
Supreme Court hearings and judgments
are made by either the grand bench, which
requires the presence of at least nine court
justices, or by one of three petty benches,
each consisting of from three to five justices.
The grand bench examines cases, referred by
4 GOVERNMENTAL STRUCTURE
one of the petty benches, that involve
constitutional questions, precedents, and so
on.
In addition to its authority as the sole court
of last resort, the Supreme Court has the
authority to set rules on litigation procedures,
together with other special rights of judicial
administration, including the nomination of a
list of persons from which the cabinet
appoints judges for the lower courts.
Japan’s court system is basically a threetrial
system in which parties to a dispute—
following a court hearing and decision—have
the right to undergo two additional court
hearings and decisions, as stipulated by the
procedures for appeal (koso) and, ultimately,
final appeal (jokoku). However, the number of
court judges is small in comparison with the
number of court cases submitted for judgment.
As a result, court decisions usually take a
long time.
In May 2004, the Act Concerning
Participation of Lay Assessors in Criminal
Trials was passed based on the
recommendations of the Judicial Reform
Council, which was instituted for a two-year
period beginning July 1999. The lay judge
system, in which ordinary individuals chosen
from among Japan’s citizens deliberate
alongside judges at designated criminal trials,
went into effect on May 21, 2009. The first
trial under the new system took place on
August 3 at the Tokyo District Court.
The Supreme Court