page_title: Constitution of Japan
section_title: Adoption
hierarchical_section_title: Constitution of Japan / Historical origins / Adoption
caption_attribution_description: English: The original of "The Constitution of the State of Japan" This constitution was promulgated in 1946, and it was taken effect in 1947.
context_page_description: The Constitution of Japan is the constitution of Japan and the supreme law in the state. It replaced the Meiji Constitution that was abolished in 1946 following Potsdam Declaration. It was enacted on 3 May 1947 as a new constitution for a post-war Japan.
  The constitution provides for a parliamentary system of government and guarantees certain fundamental rights. Under its terms, the Emperor of Japan is "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people" and exercises only a ceremonial role acting under the sovereignty of the people.
  The constitution, also known as the "Post-war Constitution" or the "Peace Constitution" was drafted under the supervision of SCAP during the Allied occupation of Japan after World War II. Japanese scholars reviewed and modified it before adoption. It replaced Japan's previous authoritarian system of quasi-absolute monarchy with a form of liberal democracy. The Constitution is best known for Article 9, by which Japan renounces its right to wage war; and to a lesser extent, the provision for de jure popular sovereignty in conjunction with the monarchy.
  The Japanese constitution is the oldest unamended constitution in the world.
context_section_description: It was decided that in adopting the new document the Meiji Constitution would not be violated, but rather legal continuity would be maintained. Thus the 1946 Constitution was adopted as an amendment to the Meiji Constitution in accordance with the provisions of Article 73 of that document. Under Article 73 the new constitution was formally submitted to the Imperial Diet, which was elected by universal suffrage, which was granted also women, in 1946, by the Emperor through an imperial rescript issued on 20 June. The draft constitution was submitted and deliberated upon as the Bill for Revision of the Imperial Constitution.
  The old constitution required that the bill receive the support of a two-thirds majority in both houses of the Diet to become law. Both chambers had made amendments. Without interference by SCAP, House of Representatives added Article 17, which guarantees the right to sue the State for tort of officials, Article 40, which guarantees the right to sue the State for wrongful detention, and Article 25, which guarantees the right to life.  
  And the House of Peers approved the document on 6 October; the House of Representatives adopted it in the same form the following day, with only five members voting against, and it became law when it received the Emperor's assent on 3 November 1946. Under its own terms, the constitution came into effect on 3 May 1947.
  A government organisation, the Kenpō Fukyū Kai ("Constitution Popularisation Society"), was established to promote the acceptance of the new constitution among the populace.
caption: The Imperial Signature (upper right) and Seal
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