Souichi Sasaki

A scholar of constitutional and administrative law. He was a professor emeritus at Kyoto University and an honorary citizen of Kyoto City. Born in Tottori City. After attending Tottori First Middle School and Fourth High School, he graduated from the law department of Kyoto Imperial University in 1903 (Meiji 36). After working as a lecturer and assistant professor, he became a professor at the university in 1913 (Taisho 2), during which he lectured on constitutional and administrative law. However, after the Takigawa Incident in 1933 (Showa 8), he resigned from his position along with his colleagues in protest against the government, and was later welcomed as the president of Ritsumeikan University. Since 1929 (Showa 4), he has presided over the Public Law Research Group and the Administrative Law Case Study Group, guiding his students and younger generations. After World War II, he was involved in the revision of the Imperial Constitution as an official advisor to the Minister of the Interior's Office, and is famous for creating the revised draft (the so-called Sasaki private draft). The gist of the revision was based on the premise that the national polity of the Emperor system would remain unchanged as a system for national unity, while democratizing politics. In the world of public law, alongside Tokyo Imperial University's Minobe Tatsukichi, he was known as "Minobe of the East, Sasaki of the West," and long held a leading position in the academic world, receiving the Order of Culture in 1952. His distinctive style was based on an interpretation theory based on a thorough objective logic, and his main works include "The Principles of Japanese Administrative Law" (1920), "Constitutional and Non-Constitutional" (1918), "Outline of the Japanese Constitution" (1930), "The Uniqueness of Our Country's Constitution" (1943), "Constitutional Theory of Japan" (1949), "Selected Essays on Constitutional Law" (1956-57), and "Fundamental Considerations of Law" (1965).

[Masaaki Ikeda]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

憲法・行政法学者。京都大学名誉教授、京都市名誉市民であった。鳥取市に生まれる。鳥取一中、四高を経て、1903年（明治36）京都帝国大学法科卒業。講師、助教授を経て、13年（大正2）同大教授となり、この間、憲法・行政法を講じていたが、33年（昭和8）の滝川事件を契機に、政府に抗議して同僚とともに辞職し、のちに立命館大学学長に迎えられた。29年（昭和4）以来、公法研究会、行政法判例研究会などを主宰し、弟子や後進を指導した。第二次世界大戦後、内大臣府御用掛として帝国憲法の改正に携わり、改正草案（いわゆる佐々木私案）をつくったことは有名。その骨子は、国民統合の体制として天皇制の国体は不変であることを前提にしながら、政治を民主化するという点に置かれた。公法学界では、東京帝国大学の美濃部達吉(みのべたつきち)と並んで、「東の美濃部、西の佐々木」と称されて、長らく学界の指導的地位を占め、52年（昭和27）文化勲章を授けられた。その特色は、徹底した客観的論理主義に基づく解釈論を展開したことにあり、主著として『日本行政法原論』（1920）、『立憲非立憲』（1918）、『日本憲法要論』（1930）、『わが国憲法の独自性』（1943）、『日本国憲法論』（1949）、『憲法学論文選』（1956～57）、『法の根本的考察』（1965）などがある。

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