Japan
Country in northeast Asia, occupying a group of islands of which the
four main ones are Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Japan
is situated between the Sea of Japan (to the west) and the north
Pacific (to the east), east of North and South Korea.
Government
Japan's 1946 constitution, revised in 1994, was framed by the occupying
Allied forces with the intention of creating a consensual, parliamentary
form of government and avoiding an overconcentration of executive
authority. The emperor, whose functions are purely ceremonial,
is head of state. The Japanese parliament, the Diet (Kokkai),
is a two-chamber body composed of a 252-member house of councillors
and a 511-member house of representatives. The former chamber
comprises 152 representatives elected from 47 prefectural constituencies
by the `limited-voteŽ system and 100 elected nationally by proportional
representation. Each member serves a six-year term, the chamber
being elected half at a time every three years. Representatives
to the lower house are elected by universal suffrage for four-year
terms, 300 from single-member constituencies and 200 by proportional
representation in 11 regions throughout the country (this system,
approved by parliament in 1994, replaced one under which representatives
had been elected from large multi-member constituencies by the
`limited-voteŽ system). Many representatives are elected to the
Diet from the bureaucracy. The house of representatives is the
most powerful chamber, able to override (if a two- thirds majority
is gained) vetoes on bills imposed by the house of councillors,
and enjoying paramountcy on financial questions. Legislative business
is effected through a system of standing committees. Executive
administration is entrusted to a prime minister, chosen by parliament,
who selects a cabinet that is collectively responsible to parliament.
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