Government of Japan
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This article describes the structure of the Japanese Government. For an outlook on current and historical political events, confer Politics of Japan. Japan no longer officially has the traditional federal system, and its 47 prefectures depend on the central government for most funding. Governors of prefectures, mayors of municipalities, and prefectural and municipal assembly members are popularly elected for four-year terms.
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[edit] National Government
[edit] Legislative branch
using a parallel voting system. Of the 121 members subject to election each time, 73 are elected from the 47 prefectural districts (by single non-transferable vote) and 48 are elected from a nationwide list by proportional representation.
[edit] Bicameral System of Governance
Like the United Kingdom's Westminster model, the Japanese model consists of an Upper House and a Lower House. The Upper House is the House of Councillors, comprising appointed members, like the UK's House of Lords, and the lower house is the House of Representatives, comprising elected members. The House of Representatives perform the legislative function of tabling and passing of Bills. It has several powers not given to the House of Councillors. If a bill is passed by the House of Representatives, but is voted down by the House of Councillors, the House of Representatives can override the decision of the other chamber by a two-thirds vote in the affirmative. In the case of treaties, the budget, and the selection of the prime minister, however, the House of Councillors can only delay passage, but not block the legislation. As a result, the House of Representatives is considered the more powerful house.
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[edit] Judicial branch
The judicial branch is independent of the other two. Its judges are appointed by the Emperor as directed by the Diet.
Japan's judicial system, drawn from customary law, civil law, and Anglo-American common law, consists of several levels of courts, with the Supreme Court as , drawn up on May 3, 1947 includes a bill of rights similar to the United States Bill of Rights, and the Supreme Court has the right of judicial review. Japanese courts do not use a system, and there are no administrative courts or claims courts. Because of the judicial system's basis,
[edit] Local government
| Administrative divisions of Japan |
|---|
| Regional level |
| Regions (地方; Chihō) |
| Prefectural level |
| Prefectures (都道府県; To-dō-fu-ken ) |
| Subprefectural level |
| Subprefectures (支庁; Shichō) |
| Designated Cities (政令指定都市; Seirei-shitei-toshi) |
| Districts (郡; Gun) |
| Municipal level |
| Core Cities (中核市; Chūkaku-shi) |
| Special Cities (特例市; Tokurei-shi) |
| Cities (市; Shi) |
| Special Wards (特別区; Tokubetsu-ku) |
| Wards (区; Ku) |
| Towns (町; Chō / Machi) |
| Villages (村; Son / Mura) |
Japan is divided into forty-seven administrative divisions, the prefectures: one metropolitan district (to—Tokyo), two urban prefectures (fu—Kyoto and Osaka), forty-three rural prefectures (ken), and one district (dō—Hokkaidō). Large cities are subdivided into wards (ku), and further split into towns, or precincts (machi or cho), or subdistricts (shicho) and counties (gun).
Each of the forty-seven local jurisdictions has a governor and a unicameral assembly, both elected by popular vote every four years. All are required by national law to maintain departments of general affairs, finance, welfare, health, and labor. Departments of agriculture, fisheries, forestry, commerce, and industry are optional, depending on local needs. The governor is responsible for all activities supported through local taxation or the national government.
Cities (shi) are self-governing units administered independently of the larger jurisdictions within which they are located. In order to attain shi status, a jurisdiction must have at least 30,000 inhabitants, 60 percent of whom are engaged in urban occupations. City government is headed by a mayor elected for four years by popular vote. There are also popularly elected city assemblies. The wards (ku) of larger cities also elect their own assemblies, which select ward superintendents.
The terms machi and cho designate self-governing towns outside the cities as well as precincts of urban wards. Like the cities, each has its own elected mayor and assembly. Villages (son or mura) are the smallest self-governing entities in rural areas. They often consist of a number of rural hamlets (buraku) containing several thousand people connected to one another through the formally imposed framework of village administration. Villages have mayors and councils elected to four-years terms.
Japan has a unitary rather than a federal system of government, in which local jurisdictions largely depend on national government both administratively and financially. Although much less powerful than its prewar counterpart (the Home Ministry), the postwar Ministry of Home Affairs, now Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, as well as other national ministries, has the authority to intervene significantly in regional and local government. The result of this power is a high level of organizational and policy standardization among the different local jurisdictions allowing them to preserve the uniqueness of their prefecture, city, or town. Some of the more progressive jurisdictions, such as Tokyo and Kyoto, have experimented with policies in such areas as social welfare that later were adopted by the national government.
[edit] See also
- Civil service of Japan
- Government-business relations in Japan
- Japanese public corporations
- List of Japanese government and military commanders of World War II
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