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SECTION I
POLITICAL SITUATION
1. GENESIS OF THE PRESENT POLITICAL SYSTEM.
Japan emerged from World War II committed to fulfillment of the terms of the
Potsdam Declaration. Political reforms, initiated to secure conformity with this Decla-
ration, have resulted in the establishment of a limited monarchy within the framework
of a constitutional government. The present Constitution, promulgated 3 November
1946 and effective 3 May 1947, repudiates the divinity of the Emperor, renounces war and
the use of force as a means of settling international disputes, transfers sovereignty from
the Emperor to the people, and guarantees to the people of Japan enjoyment of the
fundamental civil rights. The stability and popularity of this government in its pres-
ent form, following withdrawal of the Occupation forces presently in Japan, is a matter
of serious conjecture in the light of Japan's political history.
a.
Government prior to 1603.
Early Japan was a primitive, tribal, theocratic state. Not until A.D. 646 was
the first strictly legal code enacted. This legislation, known as the Decree of Great Re-
form (Taikwa) instituted the Chinese Administrative organization, fixed land-titles,
and reformed the taxation system. With the consummation of these reforms the posi-
tion of Emperor was fully established. However, the Japanese did not blindly imitate
the Chinese institutions to which they had turned in their search for a model. The
aristocratic Shinto emphasis on blood, which was inherited from the period of the
primitive state, proved stronger than the relatively democratic Chinese-Confucian
emphasis on "virtue," an emphasis which admitted that the people have the right to
rebel when the Emperor has lost this attribute. Moreover, the Chinese practice of
appointing officials on the basis of merit as ascertained in examination was also too
democratic for Japanese acceptance. Although they observed the letter of the law,
the Japanese destroyed its spirit by permitting only members of a certain social status
to take the examinations. This bred increasing inefficiency in the administration and
drove ambitious members of lesser families to seek their fortunes as military men in the
provinces, thereby contributing greatly to the breakdown of the central government
and laying the foundation for the rise of a military feudalism.
A period of first civil, then military usurpations resulted. The former rele-
gated the Emperors to a position of obscurity, the conduct of temporal affairs being
vested in a civil bureaucracy composed of hereditary officials chosen from a very few
noble families. The later military usurpations resulted in the gravitation of power
from the hands of the civil aristocracy into the hands of a hereditary local gentry whose
strength lay in its fighting men. In 1192 the greatest of these provincial landholders
and warriors, MINAMOTO Yoritomo, had the Emperor appoint him Military Dictator
or Shogun. By the latter half of the 16th Century improved methods of transportation
and communications, development of trade, the growth of towns, increasing interde-
I-1
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"ocrText": "SECRET\nvisition\nSECTION I\nPOLITICAL SITUATION\n1. GENESIS OF THE PRESENT POLITICAL SYSTEM.\nJapan emerged from World War II committed to fulfillment of the terms of the\nPotsdam Declaration. Political reforms, initiated to secure conformity with this Decla-\nration, have resulted in the establishment of a limited monarchy within the framework\nof a constitutional government. The present Constitution, promulgated 3 November\n1946 and effective 3 May 1947, repudiates the divinity of the Emperor, renounces war and\nthe use of force as a means of settling international disputes, transfers sovereignty from\nthe Emperor to the people, and guarantees to the people of Japan enjoyment of the\nfundamental civil rights. The stability and popularity of this government in its pres-\nent form, following withdrawal of the Occupation forces presently in Japan, is a matter\nof serious conjecture in the light of Japan's political history.\na.\nGovernment prior to 1603.\nEarly Japan was a primitive, tribal, theocratic state. Not until A.D. 646 was\nthe first strictly legal code enacted. This legislation, known as the Decree of Great Re-\nform (Taikwa) instituted the Chinese Administrative organization, fixed land-titles,\nand reformed the taxation system. With the consummation of these reforms the posi-\ntion of Emperor was fully established. However, the Japanese did not blindly imitate\nthe Chinese institutions to which they had turned in their search for a model. The\naristocratic Shinto emphasis on blood, which was inherited from the period of the\nprimitive state, proved stronger than the relatively democratic Chinese-Confucian\nemphasis on \"virtue,\" an emphasis which admitted that the people have the right to\nrebel when the Emperor has lost this attribute. Moreover, the Chinese practice of\nappointing officials on the basis of merit as ascertained in examination was also too\ndemocratic for Japanese acceptance. Although they observed the letter of the law,\nthe Japanese destroyed its spirit by permitting only members of a certain social status\nto take the examinations. This bred increasing inefficiency in the administration and\ndrove ambitious members of lesser families to seek their fortunes as military men in the\nprovinces, thereby contributing greatly to the breakdown of the central government\nand laying the foundation for the rise of a military feudalism.\nA period of first civil, then military usurpations resulted. The former rele-\ngated the Emperors to a position of obscurity, the conduct of temporal affairs being\nvested in a civil bureaucracy composed of hereditary officials chosen from a very few\nnoble families. The later military usurpations resulted in the gravitation of power\nfrom the hands of the civil aristocracy into the hands of a hereditary local gentry whose\nstrength lay in its fighting men. In 1192 the greatest of these provincial landholders\nand warriors, MINAMOTO Yoritomo, had the Emperor appoint him Military Dictator\nor Shogun. By the latter half of the 16th Century improved methods of transportation\nand communications, development of trade, the growth of towns, increasing interde-\nI-1\nSECRET"
}