After centuries of feudal governments, in 1890 the Imperial Diet was established making Japan the first Asian country to adopt a parliamentary form of government. Still the Imperial Diet or "upper house" was comprised exclusively of members of the privileged class and sovereignty remained in the hands of the emperor making Japan an absolute monarchy. Then in 1946 following the Second World War, Japan adopted its first constitution and became a democracy. The Japanese government is based on the separation of powers of three branches of government which are the legislative branch, the executive branch and the judiciary branch. While the emperor holds no political office, he continues to serve as a symbol of the nation.

The legislative branch is called the Diet and is made up of the House of Representatives (lower house) and the House of Councilors (upper house.) It is the most powerful arm of the government and is responsible for appointing the prime minister who is usually the leader of the strongest political party at the time. The Diet is exclusively responsible for lawmaking, the approval of budgets and it also retains the power to impeach judges and amend the constitution. Altogether there are 752 Diet members with 500 of them in the House of Representatives and 252 in the House of Councilors. Decisions are made by a majority vote or in special cases by a two-thirds majority.

The House of Representatives is the more powerful of the two houses and is made up of elected officials from local prefectures. Altogether there are 47 prefectures in Japan and representatives from each of the prefectures are elected by local residents. Members of the House of Councilors are made up of elected officials at both the local and national government levels.

There are twelve ministries within the Diet and each is headed by a cabinet minister. They are the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education Science Sports and Culture, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry, Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Labor, and the Ministry of Construction.

The judiciary branch consists of the Supreme Court and several lesser courts including district courts, family courts and summary courts. The cabinet and prime minister together appoint each of the judges of the courts including the chief judge of the Supreme Court.

Local Government

In 1947 with the new constitution, the "Local Autonomy Law" was put into affect whereby local affairs are managed independently in accordance with the will of local residents. The public elects local governors, mayors and chief executive officers who administer local government matters and supervise local public employees. The term of office for all locally elected officials is four years.

While the national government is in charge of defense, foreign policy and other matters related to the nation as a whole, most matters specific to land preservation and development, disaster prevention, pollution control, education, social welfare, health and labor are handled by the municipal and prefectorial governments.