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Cabinet of Japan

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The Cabinet (内閣, Naikaku) is the executive branch of the government of Japan. It consists of the Prime Minister and up to fourteen other members, called Ministers of State. The Prime Minister is designated by the Diet, and the remaining ministers are appointed and dismissed by the Prime Minister. The Cabinet is collectively responsible to the Diet and must resign if a motion of no confidence is adopted by the House of Representatives.

The modern Japanese Cabinet was established by the Constitution of Japan which came into effect in 1947. A cabinet also existed under the Meiji constitution of 1889-1946. This previous cabinet was subordinate to the Emperor.

Contents

Appointment

Under the constitution, Ministers of State are appointed after the selection of the Prime Minister. A majority of the Cabinet, including the Prime Minister, must be members of the Diet (but may be members of either house), and all members must be civilians. Under the 2001 Cabinet Law, the number of Ministers of State (excluding the Prime Minister) must be fourteen or less, but this may be increased to seventeen if a special need arises. In the event that the Cabinet collectively resigns it continues to exercise its functions until the appointment of a new Prime Minister. While in office, legal action may not be taken against Ministers of State without the consent of the Prime Minister. The Cabinet must resign en masse in the following circumstances:

Powers

The Cabinet exercises two kinds of power. Some of its powers, while in practice exercised in accordance with the binding instructions of the Cabinet, are nominally exercised by the Emperor with the "advice and approval" of the Cabinet. Its other class of powers are exercised by the Cabinet explicitly. Contrary to the practice in many constitutional monarchies, the Emperor of Japan is not the nominal chief executive of the state. Instead the constitution explicitly vests executive authority in the Cabinet.

Powers exercised via the Emperor

Explicit powers

The Cabinet (2005-present)

A paulownia flower pattern is considered to be a symbol of the Japanese prime minister and cabinet routinely.
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A paulownia flower pattern is considered to be a symbol of the Japanese prime minister and cabinet routinely.

Prime Minister Koizumi formed his Third Reshuffled Cabinet (第三次小泉改造内閣) on 31 October, 2005. As of November, 2005, It consists of the following members:

See also

References

External links

 

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All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

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