The Japanese Constitution
1.Harmony is to be valued, and an avoidance of wanton opposition
to be honored. All men are influenced by class-feelings, and there are few
who are intelligent. Hence there are some who disobey their lords and fathers,
or who maintain feuds with the neighboring villages. But when those above
are harmonious and those below are friendly, and there is concord in the
discussion of business, right views of things spontaneously gain acceptance.
Then what is there which cannot be accomplished!
2.Sincerely reverence the three treasures. The three treasures:
the Buddha, the Law, and the Priesthood, [The Buddha, the Law of Dharma,
and the Sangha, or order of male and female monks, are the three treasures,
or key elements, of Buddhism] are the final refuge . . . and are the supreme
objects of faith in all countries. What man in what age can fail to reverence
this law? Few men are utterly bad. They may be taught to follow it. But
if they do not go to the three treasures, how shall their crookedness be
made straight?
3. When you receive the Imperial commands, fail not scrupulously
to obey them. The lord is Heaven, the vassal is Earth. Heaven overspreads,
and Earth upbears. When this is so, the four seasons follow their due course,
and the powers of Nature obtain their efficacy. If the Earth attempted to
overspread, Heaven would simply fall in ruin. Therefore is it that when
the lord speaks, the vassal listens; when the superior acts, the inferior
yields compliance. Consequently when you receive the Imperial commands,
fail not to carry them out scrupulously. Let there be a want of care in
this matter, and ruin is the natural consequence.
4.The Ministers and functionaries should make decorous behavior
their leading principle, for the leading principle of the government of
the people consists in decorous behavior. If the superiors do not behave
with decorum, the inferiors are disorderly: if inferiors are wanting in
proper behavior, there must necessarily be offenses. Therefore it is that
when lord and vassal behave with propriety, the distinctions of rank are
not confused: when the people behave with propriety, the Government of the
Corn monwealth proceeds of itself. . .
6.Chastise that which is evil and encourage that which
is good. This was the excellent i rule of antiquity. Conceal not, therefore,
the good qualities of others, and fail not to correct that which is wrong
when you see it. Flatterers and deceivers are a sharp weapon for the overthrow
of the State, and a pointed sword for the destruction of the people. Sycophants
are also fond, when they meet, of speaking at length to their superiors
on the errors of their inferiors; to their inferiors, they censure the faults
of their superiors. Men of this kind are all wanting in fidelity to their
lord, and in benevolence toward the people. From such an origin great civil
disturbances arise.
7.Let every man have
his own charge, and let not the spheres of duty be confused. When wise men
are entrusted with office, the sound of praise arises. If unprincipled men
hold office, disasters and tumults are multiplied. In this world, few are
born with knowledge: wisdom is the product of earnest meditation. In all
things, whether great or small, find the right man, and they will surely
be well managed: on all occasions, be they urgent or the reverse, meet but
with a wise man, and they will of themselves be amenable. In this way will
the State be lasting and the Temples of the Earth and of Grain will be free
from danger. Therefore did the wise sovereigns of antiquity seek the man
to fill the office, and not the office for the sake of the man. . . .
10.Let us cease from wrath, and refrain from angry looks.
Nor let us be resentful when others differ from us. For all men have hearts,
and each heart has its own leanings. Their right is our wrong, and our right
is their wrong. We are not unquestionably sages, nor are they unquestionably
fools. Both of us are simply ordinary men. How can any one lay down a rule
by which to distinguish right from wrong? For we are all, one with another,
wise and foolish, like a ring which has no end. Therefore, although others
give way to anger, let us on the contrary dread our own faults, and though
we alone may be in the right, let us follow the multitude and act like men...
11.Give clear appreciation to merit and demerit, and deal
out to each its sure reward or punishment. In these days, reward does not
attend upon merit, nor punishment upon crime. You high functionaries who
have charge of public affairs, let it be your task to make clear rewards
and punishments. . . .
15.To turn away from that which is private, and to set
our faces toward chat which is public - this is the path of a Minister.
Now if a man is influenced by private motives, he will assuredly feel resentments,
and if he is influenced by resentful feelings, he will assuredly fail to
act harmoniously with others. If he fails to act harmoniously with others,
he will assuredly sacrifice the public interests to his private feelings.
When resentment arises, it interferes with order, and is subversive of law.
. . .
16.Let the people be employed [in forced labor] at seasonable
times. This is an ancient and excellent rule. Let them be employed, therefore,
in the winter months, when they are at leisure. But from Spring to Autumn,
when they are engaged in agriculture or with the mulberry trees, the people
should not be so employed. For if they do not attend to agriculture, what
will they have to eat? If they do not attend the mulberry trees, what will
they do for clothing?
17. Decisions on important matters should not be made by
one person alone. may miscarry, that one should arrange They should be discussed
with many. But small matters are of less consequence. It is unnecessary
to consult a number of people. It is only in the case of the discussion
of weighty affairs, when there is a suspicion that they may miscarry, that
one should arrange matters in concert with others, so as to arrive at the
right conclusion.
Source: W.G. Aston, trans., Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the
Earliest Times to A.D. 697, 2 vols. in 1 (London: Keagan and Co., 1896),
vol. 2, pp. 128-133.