Privy Council

The Privy Council was established to deliberate on the draft of the Meiji Constitution and, in response to imperial consultation, examined laws, treaties, imperial ordinances, and other matters related to the Constitution. It was composed of privy councillors drawn from the genrō (elder statesmen), as well as from the ranks of the hanbatsu oligarchy and the bureaucracy. During the transition from the feudal domain system to party politics, it served as the Emperor’s highest advisory body, maintaining an emperor-centered state structure while remaining institutionally distinct from parliamentary politics. By its very nature, it was in tension with the development of party politics and was abolished as part of the postwar democratic reforms. The Privy Council was formally abolished on May 2, 1947, one day before the Constitution of Japan came into effect.