Nippon Post New Construction of Japan - 1947

NIPPON POST on 3 May 1947 issued a souvenir sheet highlighting the New Constitution in Japan. Stamps commemorating the enactment of the Constitution of Japan were issued in two denominations: a red 50 sen stamp with mother and child AND a blue 1 yen stamp showing a bouquet of chrysanthemums, as well as a small sheet (shown here) containing both denominations on one sheet on the same day. A total of 603,300 stamps were printed to mark the occasion.

After Japan surrendered on 2 September 1945, the Allied powers intervened to foster reforms within the nation. One of these changes was the development of the 1947 Constitution of Japan. It altered the relationship between state and society by introducing popular sovereignty. The constitution’s social reforms were transformative, designing a new role for the Japanese Imperial family, placing the nation’s military firmly under civilian control, and establishing new rights for women. 

 U.S. General Douglas MacArthur shaped the rewriting of Japan’s constitution. MacArthur created three principles to guide the drafting of the new constitution and set the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers staff (SCAP) to work. MacArthur wanted to make the emperor accountable to the Japanese people, eliminate Japan’s ability to wage war, and create a parliamentary system akin to the British system, abolishing the inherited power of Japan’s aristocracy.

 Post-surrender planning for Japan focused on the future role of Japan’s emperor. Some allies saw Emperor Hirohito as responsible for Japan’s military expansion across Asia and the Pacific. U.S. diplomat and Japan expert Hugh Borton, who helped draft planning documents for the Allied occupation of Japan, argued that retaining the emperor was the best means of gaining the cooperation of the Japanese people in the reform of their country.

The Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers’ Government Section, headed by General Courtney Whitney, was tasked with drafting the new constitution in one week. Colonel Charles Kades oversaw the drafting process, and his staff, many of whom were influenced by the New Deal, tackled the issues of women’s rights, land reform, and the breakup of the zaibatsu, Japan’s industrial and financial conglomerates. They also sought to establish democratic freedoms: those of assembly, speech, and religion.

On 20 June 1946, after the first postwar election, Prime Minister Shigeru  Yoshida (1946-1954) cabinet submitted the Bill for Revision of the Imperial Constitution to the Diet for its review. Hitoshi Ashida of the Liberal Party chaired the review committee in which ruling and opposition party legislators put forward their ideas, incorporating expert opinions from civil society advocates. Two ideas were incorporated into the draft: a commitment to ensuring an adequate standard of living for the Japanese people (Article 25) and an extension of free compulsory education through middle school (Article 26).

The Meiji Constitution had stipulated that only the emperor had the authority to revise Japan’s constitution. On 3 November 1946, Emperor Hirohito announced the new constitution, so that the Japanese people would see it as legitimate.

Source: Council on Foreign Relations