The Birth Of Japan's Postwar Constitution

This book provides an extremely important new perspective on the Japanese Constitution, challenging the easy assumption that it is simply an American invention imposed on a helpless Japan. It encourages the readers to take more seriously the large body of judicial and political interpretation.

Koseki Shoichi

Translator's Preface and Acknowledgments -- A Note on the Translation -- Preface to the English Edition -- Introduction: Seeking a New Perspective -- The Probing Begins -- Restoration of the People's Rights Ideology -- Captive Legal Scholars: The Committee to Study Constitutional Problems -- A Week in a Secret Room: Writing the SCAP Draft -- A Second Defeat "Imposed" on Japan? -- The Struggle to Japanize the American Draft -- MacArthur Against the Storm -- The Draft Constitution in the Last Imperial Diet -- Behind the "Ashida Amendment" of Article 9 -- Blooming Brightly in May: Popularizers of the Constitution -- Yoshida Shigeru's Counterattack -- The Forgotten Sequel