Nishiki-e of Privy Council meeting, depicted by YOSHU Chikanobu, October 1888 (Meiji 21) Constitutional Government Documents Collection, #1133

While the idea of a writing a constitution had been discussed in Japan from the very outset of the Meiji Era (i.e., from 1868), both within and outside the Government, the actual drawing up of a draft constitution that led directly to a. Drafting the Meiji Constitution did not begin in earnest until around 1886 (Meiji 19). Based on the preliminary draft constitution drawn up by INOUE Kowashi and the German Hermann ROESLER, another draft constitution was honed by ITO Hirobumi, ITO Miyoji, KANEKO Kentaro, and INOUE Kowashi, from June to August 1887 (Meiji 20). That document is now referred to as the "Natsushima Constitution," as it was deliberated in ITO Hirobumi's summer villa in Natsushima (now part of Yokohama) in Kanagawa Prefecture.

The reworking of the draft constitution entered its final stages in March 1889 (Meiji 21), with a clean copy of the draft drawn up reflecting the debate on each provision. Having signed "Hirobumi" on the front page, ITO presented the Privy Council with his original proposal for the Constitution, having penciled in some last-minute alterations.