Freedom and People's Rights Movement

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The Freedom and People's Rights Movement (自由民権運動, jiyu minken undo) was a Meiji period Japanese political and social movement that in the 1870s and 1880s pursued the formation of an elected legislature, the institution of civil rights and the reduction of centralized taxation. The Movement prompted the Meiji government to establish a constitution in 1889 and a diet in 1890; on the other hand, it failed to loosen the control of the central government and its demand for true democracy remained unfulfilled, with ultimate power continuing to reside in the Chōshū-Satsuma oligarchy because, among other limitations, the Meiji Constitution enfranchised only men who paid a substantial amount in property taxes.