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The government of the [[Meiji period]] consisted primarily of the [[Meiji Emperor]], a series of officials and apparatuses that governed in his name, and the [[National Diet]].
The government of the [[Meiji period]] consisted primarily of the [[Meiji Emperor]], a series of officials and apparatuses that governed in his name, and the [[National Diet]].
==Early Experiments==
Following the fall of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] in [[1868]] and the officially declared restoration of power to the Emperor, [[Saigo Takamori|Saigô Takamori]], [[Kido Koin|Kido Kôin]], and other leaders of the Restoration appointed themselves heads of a provisional government. Later that year, they established a new Council of State (''[[Dajokan|Dajôkan]]'' to serve as the highest governmental body.<ref name=gordon64>Andrew Gordon, ''A Modern History of Japan'', Oxford University Press (2013), 63-64.</ref>
In [[1871]], the same year they [[abolition of the han|abolished the ''daimyô'' domains]], the new government replaced the Council of State with an arrange of ministries, covering [[Ministry of Finance|Finance]], [[Naimusho|Home Affairs]], [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs|Foreign Affairs]], [[Ministry of Public Works|Public Works]], and so forth, grouped under three umbrella ministries: the [[Ministry of the Left]], [[Ministry of the Center]], and [[Minister of the Right]].<ref name=gordon64/>
The government was then reorganized again in [[1885]], with a prime minister presiding over a cabinet made up of the heads of the various ministries. Though there was a Diet (a representative elected legislature), the Ministries were answerable not to the Diet, but only to the Emperor. A civil service examination system was introduced in [[1887]] to replace the previous system of the Satsuma, Chôshû, and Tosa leaders simply selecting officials based on personal connections.<ref name=gordon64/>
==1889 Constitution==
The Diet (from Latin ''dieta'' for "public assembly"), as established by the [[Meiji Constitution]] in [[1889]], consisted of two houses: The House of Peers, and the House of Representatives. The upper house was composed of members of the ''[[kazoku]]'' aristocracy, while the lower house was elected by a group of tax-paying landowners who numbered roughly 450,000 men, or roughly 1.1% of the total Japanese population.
The Diet (from Latin ''dieta'' for "public assembly"), as established by the [[Meiji Constitution]] in [[1889]], consisted of two houses: The House of Peers, and the House of Representatives. The upper house was composed of members of the ''[[kazoku]]'' aristocracy, while the lower house was elected by a group of tax-paying landowners who numbered roughly 450,000 men, or roughly 1.1% of the total Japanese population.
==References==
==References==
*Conrad Schirokauer, David Lurie, and Suzanne Gay, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 180.
*Conrad Schirokauer, David Lurie, and Suzanne Gay, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 180.
<references/>
[[Category:Political Institutions]]
[[Category:Political Institutions]]
[[Category:Meiji Period]]
[[Category:Meiji Period]]