A review of two beliefs of parliamentary government in postwar Japan: Japanese/French beliefs beneath the British canopy

Abstract

Abstract Although the 1947 Constitution of Japan was enacted under the occupation of the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers, it is thought that a British-style parliamentary government was introduced in Japan at this time. Leading constitutional scholars in postwar Japan believed in two ideas derived from the British constitutional history: (i) monistic parliamentary government and (ii) the free exercise of dissolution power by the British cabinet. Both of these ideas have been widely shared among constitutional scholars in Japan. However, in fact, these two beliefs derived from French scholars, and British constitutional scholars did not share them. The difference in substance and approach between the Japanese/French and the British interpretations was never explored in Japan. Japanese scholars sought a rational understanding of the British parliamentary government, thereby overlooking the empiricist understanding.