Partners for Democracy

Abstract This book demonstrates that Japan's postwar Constitution has provided a solid foundation for democracy because, contrary to the conventional view that the American Occupation simply “imposed” it, there was considerable Japanese input in its making. The first two chapters analyze a sharp clash, during the American planning of the Occupation, over the fate and role of Emperor Hirohito. Papered over in the Potsdam Declaration and never resolved in official Washington, the dispute gave General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), an opportunity to protect the emperor and use his authority to support MacArthur's own objectives. In the fall of 1945, both American and Japanese officials determined that democratization required constitutional revision and that Japan should take the lead in revising its Constitution. Accordingly, Japanese scholars and officials began advancing their ideas. Meanwhile, both the emperor and the cabinet named commissions (headed by Konoe Fumimaro and Matsumoto Jōji, respectively) to study the need for amendments. However, poor communication from the American side and political chaos among the Japanese doomed these fledgling efforts. In early February 1946, MacArthur, alarmed by the Moscow Agreement that created the Far Eastern Commission (FEC) and fearing that he might lose control over the political reform of Japan, ordered his Government Section (GS) to draft a model constitution for Japan, then pressured Prime Minister Shidehara's cabinet to present it as a Japanese government draft. Japanese attempts to modify SCAP's draft, an effort that achieved some success in the face of determined American resistance, have been largely ignored by those who slight Japan's contribution to its own postwar democratization. Chapters 12 through 20 trace the deliberations of the Japanese parliament (called the Diet) during the summer of 1946. It is a mistake to pass over this stage quickly, as most accounts of Japan's postwar democratization do. This was a critical juncture in postwar Japan's commitment to constitutional democracy, affording politicians in the recently elected House of Representatives and in the House of Peers a major opportunity to put their imprint on the document. Intense struggles took place over the role of the emperor, Article 9 (renouncing war and armed forces), the bill of rights and provisions for parliamentary governance. The Conclusion emphasizes that, as Japan currently deliberates whether to amend its postwar Constitution, it is important to understand that the transformation of Japan into a stable constitutional democracy was a joint achievement, to which both American and Japanese contributions were substantial and crucial.