Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

142 • JAPANESE CONSTITUTION
proposed a summit meeting between Konoe and United States President
Franklin D. Roosevelt. Although there is some room for conjecture
concerning whether Konoe planned to make far-reaching concessions
at the proposed summit meeting, the fact remains that
neither he nor Toyoda were willing to offer anything substantial prior
to the conference. The proposal thus appeared as an attempt to
change the negotiators but not the terms of negotiation, and met with
a negative response from Washington.
In the meantime, Japanese policymakers had agreed that if no
diplomatic breakthrough was reached by mid-October, Japan would
launch war against the United States. Konoe in mid-October resigned
and halted the slide toward war, although the successor cabinet of
General Hideki Tōjō was unable to set terms for negotiation that
held out the prospect of diplomatic success.
In a final attempt to break the deadlock, Ambassador Nomura on
his own initiative conceived of a modus vivendi, whereby the two
governments would agree on the least contentious issues, leaving
(particularly) the solution of the China problem until a later date. For
a short time, the United States government toyed with the idea as it
had long prioritized the defeat of Germany over and above that of
Japan. In the end, however, it dropped the idea because it feared that
such an agreement might undermine Chinese morale and lead to that
nation’s surrender. Thus, on 26 November, Secretary Hull presented
Ambassador Nomura with an uncompromising note, which effectively
shut the door on the possibility of a diplomatic rapprochement.
Within days, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. See also WORLD WAR II.
JAPANESE CONSTITUTION. The Japanese Constitution succeeded
the Meiji Constitution. On 3 November 1946, a new Japanese constitution
was promulgated and it became effective on 3 May 1947. It
consists of a preamble and 103 articles grouped into 11 chapters.
These are:
Chapter I. The Emperor (Articles 1–8)
Chapter II. Renunciation of War (Article 9)
Chapter III. Rights and Duties of the People (Articles 10–40)
Chapter IV. The Diet (Articles 41–64)
Chapter V. The Cabinet (Articles 65–75)
Chapter VI. Judiciary (Articles 76–82)