
The was an
advisory council to the
Emperor of Japan
The emperor of Japan is the hereditary monarch and head of state of Japan. The emperor is defined by the Constitution of Japan as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, his position deriving from "the will of ...
that operated from 1888 to 1947. It was largely used to limit the power of the
Imperial Diet.
Functions
Modeled in part upon the British
Privy Council, this body advised the Japanese Empire on matters including, but not limited to:
* Proposed amendments to the
Constitution of the Empire of Japan
* Proposed amendments to the 1889
Imperial Household Law
* Matters of constitutional interpretation, proposed laws, and ordinances
* Proclamations of
martial law
Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...
or
declaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one state announces existing or impending war activity against another. The declaration is a performative speech act (or the public signing of a document) by an authorized party of a national gov ...
* Treaties and other international agreements
* Matters concerning the succession to the throne
* Declarations of a
regency
In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
under the Imperial Household Law;
* Matters submitted by the Emperor directly
The Privy Council had both judicial functions and certain executive functions. However, the council had no power to initiate
legislation
Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred ...
.
Establishment
To oversee new governmental developments, in 1871, three councils were created - the Council of the Left, Centre, and Right, who would be collectively known as the Council of the Elders (
genrō in). The Elders oversaw the writing of the
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 ...
, and would become councilors in the Privy Council.
The Privy Council of Japan was established by an imperial ordinance of
Emperor Meiji
, posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ...
dated 28 April 1888, under the presidency of
Itō Hirobumi
Kazoku, Prince , born , was a Japanese statesman who served as the first prime minister of Japan from 1885 to 1888, and later from 1892 to 1896, in 1898, and from 1900 to 1901. He was a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior state ...
, to deliberate on the
draft constitution. The new constitution, which the emperor promulgated on 11 February 1889, briefly mentioned the Privy Council in Chapter 4, Article 56: "The Privy Councilors shall, in accordance with the provisions for the organization of the Privy Council, deliberate upon important matters of State when they have been consulted by the Emperor."
The Privy Council consisted of a chairman, a vice chairman (non-voting), twelve (later expanded to twenty-four) councilors, a chief secretary, and three additional secretaries. All privy councilors including the president and the vice president were appointed by the Emperor for life, on the advice of the
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
and the
cabinet. In addition to the twenty-four voting privy counselors, the Prime Minister and the other ministers of state were ''ex officio'' members of the council. The princes of the imperial household (both the ''
shinnōke
was the collective name for the four cadet branches of the Imperial House of Japan, which were until 1947 entitled to provide a successor to the Chrysanthemum Throne if the main line failed to produce an heir. The heads of these royal house ...
'' and the ''
ōke
The were branches of the Imperial House of Japan, Japanese imperial family (皇族 ''Kōka'') created from branches of the Fushimi-no-miya house, the last surviving ''Shinnōke'' cadet branch. All but two (the Kan'in-no-miya and Nashimoto-no-m ...
'' ) over the age of majority were permitted to attend meetings of the Privy Council and could participate in its proceedings. The president was the authority as he called and controlled meetings inside of the council. The Council met in secret at the
Tokyo Imperial Palace
is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda district of the Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda ward of Tokyo and contains several buildings including the where the Emperor h ...
, with the Emperor in attendance on important occasions. The Council was empowered to deliberate on any matters upon which the Emperor desired an opinion.
Assessment
Theoretically, the Privy Council's legal power was extensive, but, like many other aspects of Meiji-era politics, the effective power of the Privy Council was largely based upon the genrō and other oligarchs.
Masao Maruyama described the Council as an "irrational arrangement prevailed in which decisions depended on fortuitous human relations, psychological coercion by the Elder Statesmen
enroand other ‘officials close to the Throne,’ shifts in the relative strength of cliques, deals among wire-pullers and bosses, assignation-house politics, and so forth."
During its early years, many members of the Privy Council were simultaneously members of the elected government; however in its later years, the Privy Council essentially replaced the ''
genrō'' and the ''
Genrōin
The was a Government of Meiji Japan#Establishment of a national assembly, national assembly in early Meiji period, Meiji Japan, established after the Osaka Conference of 1875. It is also referred to as the Senate of Japan, being the word used ...
'' as a very conservative “old boys” club, often at odds with the party-dominated elected government.
[Gordon, A History of Modern Japan, pp.92] After the Privy Council unsuccessfully challenged the government by attempting to reject several government decisions, and by attempting to assert itself on certain foreign policy issues, it was demonstrated that in actuality the balance of power was with the elected government. The Privy Council was thenceforth largely ignored, and was not consulted on major policy matters, including the
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...
.
The Privy Council was abolished with the enforcement of the current postwar
Constitution of Japan
The Constitution of Japan is the supreme law of Japan. Written primarily by American civilian officials during the occupation of Japan after World War II, it was adopted on 3 November 1946 and came into effect on 3 May 1947, succeeding the Meij ...
on 3 May 1947.
Leadership
Presidents
Fifteen people served as the President of the Privy Council of Japan.
Vice presidents
See also
*
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
OCLC 44090600*
OCLC 145151778
{{Authority control
1888 establishments in Japan
1947 disestablishments in Japan
Government of the Empire of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...