Privy Council of Japan


The Privy Council of Japan was an advisory council to the Emperor of Japan that operated from 1888 to 1947. It was largely used to limit the power of the Imperial Diet.

Functions

Modeled in part upon the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, this body advised the Japanese Empire on matters including, but not limited to:
woodblock prints by Yōshū Chikanobu, 1888
The Privy Council had both judicial functions and certain executive functions. However, the council had no power to initiate legislation.

Establishment

To oversee new governmental developments, in 1871, three councils were created - the Council of the Left, Centre, and Right, who would be collectively known as the Council of the Elders. The Elders oversaw the writing of the Meiji Constitution, and would become councilors in the Privy Council.
The Privy Council of Japan was established by an imperial ordinance of Emperor Meiji dated 28 April 1888, under the presidency of Itō Hirobumi, to deliberate on the draft constitution. The new constitution, which the emperor promulgated on 11 February 1889, briefly mentioned the Privy Council in Chapter 4, Article 56: "The Privy Councilors shall, in accordance with the provisions for the organization of the Privy Council, deliberate upon important matters of State when they have been consulted by the Emperor."
The Privy Council consisted of a chairman, a vice chairman, twelve councilors, a chief secretary, and three additional secretaries. All privy councilors including the president and the vice president were appointed by the Emperor for life, on the advice of the Prime Minister and the cabinet. In addition to the twenty-four voting privy counselors, the Prime Minister and the other ministers of state were ex officio members of the council. The princes of the imperial household over the age of majority were permitted to attend meetings of the Privy Council and could participate in its proceedings. The president was the authority as he called and controlled meetings inside of the council. The Council met in secret at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, with the Emperor in attendance on important occasions. The Council was empowered to deliberate on any matters upon which the Emperor desired an opinion.

Assessment

Theoretically, the Privy Council's legal power was extensive, but, like many other aspects of Meiji-era politics, the effective power of the Privy Council was largely based upon the genrō and other oligarchs. Masao Maruyama described the Council as an "irrational arrangement prevailed in which decisions depended on fortuitous human relations, psychological coercion by the Elder Statesmen and other ‘officials close to the Throne,’ shifts in the relative strength of cliques, deals among wire-pullers and bosses, assignation-house politics, and so forth."
During its early years, many members of the Privy Council were simultaneously members of the elected government; however in its later years, the Privy Council essentially replaced the genrō and the Genrōin as a very conservative “old boys” club, often at odds with the party-dominated elected government. After the Privy Council unsuccessfully challenged the government by attempting to reject several government decisions, and by attempting to assert itself on certain foreign policy issues, it was demonstrated that in actuality the balance of power was with the elected government. The Privy Council was thenceforth largely ignored, and was not consulted on major policy matters, including the Attack on Pearl Harbor.
The Privy Council was abolished with the enforcement of the current postwar Constitution of Japan on 3 May 1947.

Presidents of the Privy Council

NameDates as Chairman
1Itō Hirobumi30 April 1888 – 30 October 1889
2Ōki Takatō24 December 1889 – 1 June 1891
3Itō Hirobumi1 June 1891 – 8 August 1892
4Ōki Takato8 August 1892 – 11 March 1893
5Yamagata Aritomo11 March 1893 – 12 December 1893
6Kuroda Kiyotaka17 March 1894 – 25 August 1900
7Saionji Kinmochi27 August 1900 – 13 July 1903
8Itō Hirobumi13 July 1903 – 21 December 1905
9Yamagata Aritomo21 December 1905 – 14 June 1909
10Itō Hirobumi14 June 1909 – 26 October 1909
11Yamagata Aritomo26 October 1909 – 1 February 1922
12Kiyoura Keigo8 February 1922 – 7 January 1924
13Hamao Arata13 January 1924 – 25 September 1925
14Hozumi Nobushige1 October 1925 – 8 April 1926
15Kuratomi Yuzaburo12 April 1926 – 3 May 1934
16Ichiki Kitokurō3 May 1934 – 13 March 1936
17Hiranuma Kiichirō13 March 1936 – 5 January 1939
18Konoe Fumimaro5 January 1939 – 24 June 1940
19Hara Yoshimichi24 June 1940 – 7 August 1944
20Suzuki Kantarō7 August 1944 – 7 June 1945
21Hiranuma Kiichirō9 April 1945 – 3 December 1945
22Suzuki Kantarō15 December 1945 – 13 June 1946
23Shimizu Tōru13 June 1946 – 26 September 1946