The General Election Law (普通選挙法, Futsu Senkyo Hō^?) was a law passed in Taisho period Japan, extending suffrage to all males aged 25 and over. It was proposed by the Kenseito political party and it was passed by the Diet of Japan on 5 May 1925. History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei The Taisho period (大正 Taishō, lit. ... Kenseitō (Constitutional Party) ) was a political party in Meiji period Japan. ... This article is about the Japanese legislature. ... May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Background

Meiji period Japan was dominated by the Meiji oligarchy, who viewed popular democracy and party politics with suspicion. However, after the promulgation of the [Meiji Constitution]], limited suffrage was extended to male property holders, aged over 25 years, who paid more than 15 Yen in annual taxes for elections to the lower house starting in 1890. The number of voters who qualified under this restriction was around 450,000 (roughly 1 percent of the population). Over the next three decades, the number grew to around 3,000,000. It should be noted that many executive and legislative positions in the Japanese government were appointive, rather than elected. Although seats in local, prefecture and the national (lower) assemblies were elected, the seats in the House of Peers was either appointive or hereditary, and prefectural governors were appointed by the central government and answerable only to the Home Ministry (Japan). City mayors were appointed by the prefectural governor, albeit from a list of names supplied by the city elected assembly. The Meiji period ) denotes the 45-year reign of Emperor Meiji, running from 8 September 1868 (in the Gregorian calendar, 23 October 1868) to 30 July 1912. ... The Meiji oligarchy, as the new ruling class of Meiji period Japan is known to historians, was a privileged clique that exercised imperial power, sometimes despotically. ... A political party is a political organization subscribing to a certain ideology or formed around very special issues. ... The House of Peers (貴族院 Kizokuin) was the upper house of the Imperial Diet under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan (in effect from 11 February 1889 to 3 May 1947). ... The Home Ministry (内務省 naimushō) managed the internal affairs of Japan from its founding in 1873, during the Meiji Restoration, to its dissolution during the occupation period in 1947. ...

Universal Suffrage Movement

Almost from the start of elections in Japan, popular movements arose to eliminate the tax-paying requirement, which effectively disenfranchised as large segment of the adult male population. In 1897, the Universal Suffrage League (普通選挙期成同盟会, Futsu Senkyo Kisei Dōmeikai^?) was created to raise public awareness through discussion groups and periodicals. Diet members, mostly from liberal faction within the Diet, supported by the Jiyuto and its offshoots, presented bills to the Diet in 1902, 1903, 1908, 1909 and 1910. The movement finally appeared to succeed in March 1911, when its Universal Suffrage Bill was passed by the lower house only to be summarily rejected by the House of Peers. Liberal Party (自由党 Jiyuto) is the name of five different political parties in different time periods in Japan. ...

Increased government hostility towards radical groups broadened in the 1910s, with the implementation of the Peace Preservation Laws and increased censorship and surveillance of suspected radical groups associated with leftist or labor movements. However, the movement for universal suffrage resurfaced in 1918-1919 with demonstrations held by student and labor associations and a sudden upsurge in interest by newspapers and popular journals. The opposition political parties, the Kenseikai and Rikken Kokuminto jumped on the bandwagon, whereas the governmental Rikken Seiyukai still opposed. The Peace Preservation Law (Japanese: 治安維持法; Chian-ijihô) was a Japanese law passed in 1925 as a mechanism for the royal family to entrench itself against a growing left wing. ... The labor movement (or labour movement) is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and political governments. ... Universal suffrage (also general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of the right to vote to all adults, without distinction as to race, sex, belief, or economic or social status. ... Rikken Seiyukai (Friends of Constitutional Government) ) was one of the main political parties in pre-war Japan It was also known as simply the ‘Seiyukai’. Founded in September 1900 by Itō Hirobumi, the Seiyukai was a pro-government alliance of bureaucrats and former members of the Kenseito. ...

The liberal parties favored an increase in the popular franchise to keep up with the world trend to democracy and to provide a safety valve for both urban and rural discontent. The more conservative parties, fearing that the increased voter base would favor their liberal opponents, resisted these proposals.

In 1924, a Kenseikai alliance with the Seiyukai scored a victory over the non-party government of Kiyoura Keigo. Kenseikai leader Kato Takaaki became Prime Minister of Japan, and the Seiyukai was forced to accept the Kenseikai proposal on extending universal male suffrage to all male citizens over the age of 25 as the price for the coalition. The bill was passed in 1925, and came into effect for the 20 February 1928 elections. Count Kiyoura Keigo (清浦 奎吾 Kiyoura Keigo; February 14, 1850–November 5, 1942) was a Japanese politician and the 23rd Prime Minister of Japan from January 7, 1924 to June 11, 1924. ... Kato Takaaki Katō Takaaki (加藤 高明 January 3, 1860–January 28, 1926) was a Japanese politician and the 24th Prime Minister of Japan from June 11, 1924 to January 28, 1926. ... The Prime Minister of Japan (内閣総理大臣 Naikaku sōri daijin) is the usual English-language term used for the head of government of Japan, although the literal translation of the Japanese name for the office is Prime Minister of the Cabinet. ... February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Criticisms

The General Election Law was passed only after the Peace Preservation Law was passed. Although more democracy was given, liberty (in terms of freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and freedom of speech) was limited at the same time. With the greatly increased voter base (approximately 12 million voters in 1925, or approximately 20 percent of the total population), the costs for elections rose considerably. Political candidates, in need of greater sources of funding, turned to the zaibatsu and other sponsors who also had vested political interests. Zaibatsu , lit. ...

In addition, women still did not have the right to vote.

See also

• Japan general election, 1928 In Japanese