The Meiji Republic
The nation of Japan lies in the North Pacific Ocean, East of the Korean Peninsula and China.
Slightly smaller than the U.S. state of California, it has a total area (land and water) of 377,915
square miles and is divided into four primary islands: Hokkaido, Kyushu, Honshu, and Shikoku.
Japan is divided into 47 administrative divisions called prefectures. Japan was "founded" in 660
B.C. when Emperor Jimmu declared Japan as a sovereign Imperial nation. Until the Meiji
Restoration in 1890, Japan operated under the Shogunate rule, which involved the rule of a
hereditary dictator. The Meiji Constitution provided a constitutional monarchy instead of pure
Imperial dictatorship. The Modern State of Japan began on May 3, 1947, which marked the
formation of a new Japanese Constitution, an amendment to the Meiji Constitution. ... Show more
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Its Chief of State is Emperor Akihito, son of Emperor Hirohito of World War II, and his wife,
Empress Michiko. Both monarchs hold no legitimate power, but instead represent the constitution.
Instead, governmental power is held by the Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, Deputy Prime Minister
Taro Aso, and the Diet, which operates in a similar manner to the U.S. Congress. The Diet, known in
Japan as Kokkai, consists of a House of Councilors and a House of Representatives. The members
serve a maximum term of 4 years. The Japanese Judiciary Branch is the Saiko Saibansho, or
Japanese Supreme Court. It consists of a Chief Justice (currently Itsuro Terada) and 14 associate
justices. The Saiko Saibansho operates on Japanese Statutory Law, known as the Six Codes. The
first of these codes is the Constitution of Japan, followed by the Civil Code, Code of Civil
Procedure, Criminal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Commercial
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