How does the Japanese government work?

Answer 1

The national government is a Constitutional Monarchy in which the Emperor exercises no real power. The power in Japan is held by the Prime Minister and the cabinet.

The Japanese Legislature (called the Diet, after the old Bismarck era German legislature) is divided into two houses, a House of Representatives (the lower house) and a House of Councillors (the upper house). The lower house is the more powerful of the two, and is the house where legislation is crafted and voted on first. The Prime Minister is a member of the lower house. The upper house has veto power, but is often overruled by the lower house.

Japan has the Liberal Democratic Party (center-right and often nationalist), the Democratic Party (center left), the New Komeito Party (pacifist party, coalition member with the LDP), the Socialist Party, and the Communist Party as major parties. However, since the 1950s, the LDP has enjoyed nearly unbroken control of both houses, only having been out of power in the lower house once (briefly in the early 90s following a major scandal) and the upper house once (currently).

Japan's legislators are elected in districts with multiple seats per district.

Previously, voters were given one vote each regardless of the number of seats in the district, and if, for example, a district had four seats up, the top four vote getters would be elected. This had been viewed as a means of keeping one party in power, as they had the ability to run multiple candidates, split the vote and still get most of the seats. More recently, Japan has changed to a system where voters would get the same number of votes per district as there were seats and also having a set number of seats that would be distributed amongst the parties based on the parties' national vote totals. The idea was to increase the representation of minority parties.

Answer 2

Japan's government is a democratic parliamentary government, with a constitutional monarchy as the head of state. Japan's Imperial role is essentially only as a figurehead now, and the Emperor has no defined governmental power. He remains the ceremonial head of state, and presides over ceremonies and represents his nation internationally at public functions that do not require a political presence.

Answer 3

Japan's Government which started in1947, is based on three principles: sovereignty of the people, respect for fundamental human rights and peace. The Constitution also stipulates the independence of the three branches of government - legislative (the Diet), executive (the cabinet), and judicial (the courts).

The Diet, Japan's national parliament, has the highest power and the sole law-maker of the state. The Diet comprises the 480-seat House of Representatives (lower house) and the 242-seat House of Councillors (upper house). All Japanese citizens can vote in elections once they reach the age of 20.

Japan has a parliamentary system of government like Britain and Canada. The Japanese do not elect a president directly. Diet members elect a prime minister from among themselves. The prime minister forms and leads the cabinet of ministers of state.

Judicial power lies with the Supreme Court and lower courts, such as high courts, district courts. Most cases are handled by district courts. There are also summary courts, which deal with problems like traffic violations.

Answer 4

Japan is a constitutional monarchy, governed by elected officials such as the Prime Minister and members of the Diet.

Answer 5

Japan's current government is a constitutional monarchy.

Answer 6

Japans government is run by the power of Monarchy, where the emperor is very limited but the prime minister rules over the people