Imperial Diet - teikokugikai

Japanese: 帝国議会 - ていこくぎかい

This refers to the parliament in the Constitution of the Empire of Japan (Meiji Constitution). The parliamentary system gradually developed from the medieval assemblies of states in England to form the modern parliamentary system, and was later adopted by Western countries in their respective constitutional systems after the civil revolution period. In Japan, after the Meiji Restoration, the Five Articles stipulated that "We shall widely establish assemblies and decide all matters by public debate," and after the establishment of the Lower Council, the Lower Bureau, the Council, the House of Councillors, the Daijokan (Grand Council of State), and the Left House, the Senate was established in 1875 (Meiji 8) to deliberate on legislation. However, none of these institutions were organized by publicly elected members, and were not representative of the people. The year before, with the rise of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, Itagaki Taisuke and others made public a petition for the establishment of a popularly elected parliament, arguing that the tyranny of government officials should be eliminated and a parliament should be established as soon as possible. In 1876, an Imperial Rescript was issued ordering the Senate to prepare a draft constitution, and the Senate prepared a draft constitution based on this, but it was not adopted. In 1881, the government issued an Imperial Rescript promising to enact a constitution and open a parliament in 1890, and in the following year, 1882, Ito Hirobumi and others were dispatched to Europe to study Western constitutions, particularly the German constitution. In 1889, the Constitution of the Empire of Japan was promulgated, and the first Imperial Diet was opened on November 29, 1890, at the same time as the constitution came into effect. Local assemblies were established before the Imperial Diet, by the Prefectural Assembly Regulations of 1877 and the Ward, Town and Village Assembly Law of 1880. The Meiji Constitution had a particularly strong monarchical tendency compared to the constitutions of the European constitutional monarchies of the time, and as a result the status of the parliament was low and its powers extremely limited, but it is significant as Japan's first parliamentary system.

[Yamano Kazumi]

Composition of the Imperial Diet

The Imperial Diet was composed of the House of Peers and the House of Representatives (Article 33 of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan), and the House of Peers was composed of members of the Imperial Family, members of the nobility, and members appointed by the Imperial Court, as provided for in the House of Peers Act (Article 34 of the same act). The House of Peers Act was enacted at the same time as the Constitution in 1889, and has since been amended several times, but in the 1925 (Taisho 14) amendment, it was composed of (1) members of the Imperial Family (all male members of the Imperial Family who had reached the age of majority), (2) members of the Prince or Marquis (those aged 30 or older who hold the title of Prince or Marquis), (3) members of the Count or Baron (elected by those who hold the title of Count or Baron, with a term of seven years, 66 members of each title), (4) members appointed by the Imperial Court for life (up to 125 men aged 30 or older who have made distinguished contributions to the nation or are knowledgeable), and (5) members of the Imperial Academy (four members appointed by the Imperial Academy, with a term of seven years, elected by the members of the Imperial Academy from among themselves). In other words, the House of Peers, which was made up of a privileged class centered on hereditary aristocrats (imperial family, peerage) and imperially appointed high-ranking officials, suppressed the House of Representatives, which was made up of publicly elected members, and played the role of a barrier against the Emperor system and clan-based politics. The House of Representatives was also composed of publicly elected members, but the election law initially restricted the right to vote and to be elected to a certain amount of tax payment as a qualification, and in 1925, universal suffrage was adopted, but women's suffrage was still not recognized. The relationship between the two houses was equal, except for the House of Representatives' right to consider the budget first (Article 65 of the same law), and the superiority of the House of Representatives was not recognized.

[Yamano Kazumi]

The powers of the Imperial Diet

The powers of the Imperial Diet can be divided into those relating to legislation, finances, general affairs of state, and matters within the Diet itself, but its deliberation powers were limited by the Emperor's sovereignty, the Emperor's prerogatives, and the autonomy of the Imperial Household. Of these, the powers of legislation can be divided into the right of concurrence and the right of consent. Article 5 of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan stipulates that "The Emperor exercises his legislative power with the concurrence of the Imperial Diet," and the Diet only had the right of concurrence (consent) to the Emperor's actions, so that the Diet did not have the authority to enact laws by itself, and the Diet only had the right of concurrence (consent) to the Emperor's actions. However, the right of concurrence was interpreted to include the right of initiation as well as the right of consent. The Emperor could also issue emergency orders (Article 8 of the Constitution) and independent orders (Article 9 of the Constitution) without the concurrence of the Imperial Diet. Of these, emergency orders were issued when there was an urgent need while the Imperial Diet was not in session, so consent had to be sought during the next Imperial Diet session, which is called the right of consent.

With regard to financial authority, the principle of tax law was adopted with regard to taxation (Article 62, Paragraph 1 of the same Act), and this was included in the right to sponsor legislation. In addition, there were other powers such as the right to sponsor the budget (Article 64, Paragraph 1 of the same Act), the right to sponsor government bonds (Article 62, Paragraph 3 of the same Act), the right to sponsor national treasury contribution contracts (same Article, Paragraph 2 of the same Act), the right to approve excess expenditures and extra-budgetary expenditures (Article 64, Paragraph 2 of the same Act), and the right to review financial statements (Article 72 of the same Act).

As for other powers related to general state affairs, unlike those related to legislation and finances, the Houses did not have the right of support or approval, but they did have the right to make petitions to the Emperor (Article 49 of the same law), the right to make suggestions to the government (Article 40 of the same law), the right to accept petitions (Article 50 of the same law), the right to make resolutions, the right to review, and the right to ask questions.

Furthermore, each House had its own independent autonomy, including the right to enact House rules (Article 51 of the same law), autonomy over proceedings, police power within the House, and power over the internal organization and status of its members. Some of these powers are based on the Constitution, laws, and customary parliamentary law, and some have been inherited by the Diet under the current Constitution.

[Yamano Kazumi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

大日本帝国憲法（明治憲法）における議会をいう。議会制度は、イギリスにおける中世の等族会議がしだいに発展して近代的議会制度を成立させ、のちに欧米諸国が市民革命期以降それぞれの憲法制度に採用することとなった。わが国においても明治維新後「五か条の誓文」中に「広ク会議ヲ興シ万機公論ニ決スヘシ」と定めて以来、下ノ議事所、下局、公議所、集議院、太政官(だいじょうかん)左院などを経て、1875年（明治8）には元老院を設置して立法の審議などを行わしめた。しかし、これらの機関はいずれも公選議員により組織されたものでなく、国民代表機関ではなかった。この前年、自由民権運動の高揚とともに板垣退助らは、民撰(みんせん)議院設立の建白書を公にし、官吏の専制を排して速やかに議会を開設すべきことを主張した。76年には元老院に対して憲法草案の作成を命ずる勅語が下され、これに基づいて元老院は国憲草案を作成したが採用されなかった。1881年政府は勅諭を発して、90年に憲法を制定し議会を開設することを約し、翌82年伊藤博文(ひろぶみ)らをヨーロッパに派遣し、欧米ことにドイツ憲法の調査を行わしめた。89年、大日本帝国憲法が発布され、翌90年11月29日憲法の施行と同時に、第1回帝国議会が開会された。なお、地方議会については、1877年制定の府県会規則および80年制定の区町村会法によって帝国議会より先に設置された。明治憲法は、当時のヨーロッパの立憲君主制諸国の憲法に比しても、とりわけ強い君権主義的傾向を有するものであり、したがって議会の地位は低く、その権限はきわめて制限されたものであったが、わが国最初の議会制としての意義は大きい。

［山野一美］

帝国議会の構成

帝国議会は貴族院および衆議院の両院からなり（大日本帝国憲法33条）、貴族院は貴族院令の定めるところにより皇族、華族および勅任の議員をもって組織された（同法34条）。貴族院令は、1889年、憲法と同時に制定され、その後数次の改正が行われたが、1925年（大正14）の改正では、（1）皇族議員（成年に達したすべての皇族男子）、（2）公侯爵議員（公侯爵を有する満30歳以上の者）、（3）伯子男爵議員（伯子男爵を有する者より選挙された議員で任期7年、伯子男爵各66名）、（4）終身の勅選議員（国家に勲労ありまたは学識ある者から勅選される満30歳以上の男子で125名以内）、（5）帝国学士院会員議員（帝国学士院会員中より互選し、その結果により勅任される任期7年の議員4名）をもって構成された。すなわち、世襲制の貴族（皇族、華族）と勅任制の高官を中心とする特権階層よりなる貴族院は、公選議員によって構成される衆議院を抑制し、天皇制や藩閥政治の藩屏(はんぺい)としての役割を担うものであった。また衆議院は公選議員をもって組織されたが、選挙法は、当初、選挙権・被選挙権とも一定の納税額をもってその資格要件とする制限選挙で、25年に至って普通選挙制度が採用されたが、なお女子の参政権は認められなかった。両院の関係は、衆議院の予算先議権（同法65条）を除いては対等であり、衆議院の優越も認められなかった。

［山野一美］

帝国議会の権限

帝国議会の権限は、立法に関する権限、財政に関する権限、一般国務に関する権限、議院内部の事項に関する権限に分けることができるが、天皇主権、天皇大権、皇室自律権などによりその審議権が制限された。このうち立法に関しては、協賛権と承諾権に分かれる。大日本帝国憲法第5条は「天皇ハ帝国議会ノ協賛ヲ以(もっ)テ立法権ヲ行フ」と定め、法律制定が議会自らの権限によるものでなく、天皇の行為に対して協賛（同意）権を議会が有するにすぎなかった。ただし、協賛権は同意権のほか発案権を含むものと解されていた。また天皇は緊急命令（同法8条）および独立命令（同法9条）を帝国議会の協賛なしに発することができた。このうち緊急命令については、帝国議会閉会中緊急の必要あるときに発せられるため、次の帝国議会の会期中にその承諾を求める必要があり、この場合を承諾権という。

　財政に関する権限は、租税に関しては租税法律主義を採用（同法62条1項）して立法協賛権に含まれたが、そのほかに、予算協賛権（同法64条1項）、国債協賛権（同法62条3項）、国庫負担契約協賛権（同条同項）、超過支出および予算外支出の承諾権（同法64条2項）、決算審査権（同法72条）などがあった。

　その他一般国務に関する権限としては、立法および財政に関する事項と異なり協賛権・承諾権を有するものではないが、各議院の天皇に対する上奏権（同法49条）、政府に対する建議権（同法40条）、請願受理権（同法50条）、決議権、審査権、質問権などを有していた。

　また各議院がそれぞれ独自に有する自律権として、議院規則の制定権（同法51条）、議事に関する自律権、院内警察権、内部組織および議員の身分に関する権などを有していた。これらの諸権限は憲法、法律のほか議会慣習法に基づくものもあり、現行憲法下の議会に継受されているものもある。

［山野一美］

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