Lt. Col. Milo E. Rowell (July 25, 1903 – October 7, 1977) was an American lawyer and

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

officer best known for his role in drafting the

Constitution of Japan The Constitution of Japan (Shinjitai: , Kyūjitai: , Hepburn: ) is the constitution of Japan and the supreme law in the state. Written primarily by American civilian officials working under the Allied occupation of Japan, the constitution ...

. Born in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, Rowell graduated from Stanford University and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, and returned to Fresno in 1926 to open a private law practice there. He enlisted in the Army in 1943, where he studied occupation administration and also commanded troops in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Following Japan's surrender in 1945, Rowell moved to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

and joined the

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

authority under Douglas MacArthur as Chief of Judicial Affairs. In this capacity, he worked with Brig. Gen.

Courtney Whitney Major General Courtney Whitney (May 20, 1897 – March 21, 1969) was a lawyer and United States Army commander during World War II who later served as a senior official during the American occupation of Japan (1945–1951). He played a major rol ...

to prepare a draft constitution for the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paral ...

to approve. Rowell extensively analyzed the existing

Meiji Constitution The Constitution of the Empire of Japan (Kyūjitai: ; Shinjitai: , ), known informally as the Meiji Constitution (, ''Meiji Kenpō''), was the constitution of the Empire of Japan which was proclaimed on February 11, 1889, and remained in for ...

, balancing it with the demands of Japanese lawyers to form a draft that was acceptable to both the Japanese government and the GHQ. Rowell donated his papers to the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

in 1965. They now serve as one of the key

legislative history Legislative history includes any of various materials generated in the course of creating legislation, such as committee reports, analysis by legislative counsel, committee hearings, floor debates, and histories of actions taken. Legislative his ...

sources in Japanese constitutional law. Later in life, Rowell supported establishment of a medical school in his home town of Fresno. This led to the establishment of the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine's Fresno-Central San Joaquin Valley Medical Education Program. In 1981 the auditorium of the new Medical Education Building on the campus of Fresno's VA Medical Center was named in Rowell's honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowell, Milo 1903 births 1977 deaths Stanford University alumni Harvard Law School alumni United States Army officers Lawyers who have represented the United States government California lawyers People from Fresno, California 20th-century American lawyers Military personnel from California