Documents with Commentaries Part 2 Creation of Various Proposals to Reform the Constitution
Iwasaburo Takano was a Professor of Statistics at Imperial University of Tokyo from the Meiji Era through the Taisho Era. Takano became involved with the labor movement under the influence of his brother Fusataro, a labor activist, and resigned his post at Imperial University of Tokyo to take on the top position in the formation of the Ohara Institute for Social Research in 1920. After the war he participated in the formation of the Japan Socialist Party, and he was also involved with the Japanese Culture League as well as organizing the Constitution Investigation Association. In 1946 he became the President of the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK).
The Constitution Investigation Association pressed forward the debate of the draft created by Yasuzo Suzuki in which many of the opinions accepted the continuation of the Emperor system. While Takano was taking part in the debate in the Constitution Investigation Association, he had very strong feelings about popular sovereignty which led him to the elimination of the Emperor system and the formation of a republic, so he drafted his own proposal, the "Independent Draft of the Constitution of the Republic of Japan" and personally handed it over to Yasuzo Suzuki in late November 1945 (we can see that the date on the material presented is November 21, and that some changes were made on December 10). This proposal advocates a presidential system and includes provisions on the nationalization of land and nationalized means of production.
This draft was published in the February 1946 edition of Shinsei [New Life] in an article titled "The Enslaved Masses" in which it was called "Independent Draft of a Revised Constitution." In this version amendments were made to the second chapter along with slight adjustments to the wording overall.
| Actual Title of Source | Nihon Kyowakoku Kenpo Shian Yoko |
|---|---|
| Date | November 21 and December 10, 1945 |
| Document Number | |
| Repository (reproduction) | |
| Repository | Ohara Institute for Social Research, Hosei University |
| Note |
| Actual Title of Source | Kaisei Kenpo Shian Yoko, Takano Iwasaburo (Shinsei, Showa Nijuichinenn Nigatsugo Shosai) |
|---|---|
| Date | |
| Document Number | Irie Toshio Papers: 11 |
| Repository (reproduction) | |
| Repository | National Diet Library |
| Note |
