GOVERNMENT
Japan is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government. There is universal adult suffrage with a secret ballot for all elective offices. Sovereignty, previously embodied in the emperor, is vested in the Japanese people, and the Emperor is defined as the symbol of the state.
Japan's Government is a parliamentary democracy, with a House of Representatives and a House of Councillors. Executive power is vested in a cabinet composed of a prime minister and ministers of state, all of whom must be civilians. The prime minister must be a member of the Diet and is designated by his colleagues. The prime minister has the power to appoint and remove ministers, a majority of whom must be Diet members. The judiciary is independent.
The five major political parties represented in the National Diet are the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the New Clean Government Party (Komeito), the Japan Communist Party (JCP), and the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Japan's judicial system, drawn from customary law, civil law, and Anglo-American common law, consists of several levels of courts, with the Supreme Court as the final judicial authority. The Japanese constitution includes a bill of rights similar to the U.S. Bill of Rights, and the Supreme Court has the right of judicial review. Japanese courts do not use a jury system, and there are no administrative courts or claims courts. Because of the judicial system's basis, court decisions are made in accordance with legal statutes. Only Supreme Court decisions have any direct effect on later interpretation of the law.
Japan
does not have a federal system, and its 47 prefectures are not
sovereign entities in the sense that U.S. states are. Most depend
on the central government for subsidies. Governors of prefectures,
mayors of municipalities, and prefectural and municipal assembly
members are popularly elected to 4-year terms.
Recent
Political Developments
The post-World War II years saw tremendous economic growth in Japan, with the political system dominated by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). That total domination lasted until the Diet lower house elections in July 1993, in which the LDP failed for the first time to win a majority. The LDP returned to power in 1994, with majorities in both houses of the Diet. In elections in July 2007, the LDP lost its majority in the upper house, with the DPJ now holding the largest number of seats but with no party possessing a clear majority. Currently, the LDP maintains a majority in the lower house.
Shinzo Abe was elected Prime Minister in a Diet vote in September 2006. Abe was the first prime minister to be born after World War II and the youngest prime minister since the war. However, Abe resigned abruptly on September 12, 2007, not long after the LDP lost control of the upper house in the July 2007 elections in which the LDP's handing of domestic issues was a leading issue. Yasuo Fukuda of the LDP was elected Prime Minister by the Diet on September 25, 2007 to replace Abe. Fukuda, whose father served as Prime Minister in the late 1970s, is known as a moderate and for his experience building consensus behind the scenes.
Principal
Government Officials
Head of State--Emperor Akihito
Prime Minister (Head of Government)--Yasuo Fukuda
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Masahiko Komura
Ambassador to the U.S.--Ryozo Kato
Permanent Representative to the UN--Kenzo Oshima
Japan
maintains an embassy
in the United States at 2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington,
DC 20008 (tel: 202-238-6700; fax: 202-328-2187). .
Type:
Constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government.
Constitution: May 3, 1947.
Branches: Executive--prime minister (head of
government). Legislative--bicameral Diet (House of Representatives
and House of Councillors). Judicial--civil law system based on
the model of Roman law.
Administrative subdivisions: 47 prefectures.
Political parties: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP),
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), New Clean Government Party (Komeito),
Conservative New Party (CNP), Japan Communist Party (JCP), Social
Democratic Party (SDP).
Suffrage: Universal at 20.
