House of Peers
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- This article is about the Japanese body. The British House of Lords is also known as the House of Peers for certain ceremonial purposes.
The House of Peers of Japan (貴族院 Kizokuin ?) was the upper house of the Imperial Diet as mandated under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan (in effect from 11 February 1889 to 3 May 1947).
Ito Hirobumi and the other Meiji leaders deliberately modeled the chamber on the British House of Lords, as a counterweight to the popularly elected House of Representatives (Shūgiin).
In 1869, under the new Meiji government, a Japanese peerage was created by an Imperial decree merging the former Court nobility (kuge) and former feudal lords (daimyo) into a single new aristocratic class called the kazoku.
A second imperial ordinance in 1884 grouped the kazoku into five ranks equivalent to the European prince (or duke), marquis, count, viscount, and baron. Although this grouping idea was taken from the European peerage, the Japanese titles were taken from Chinese and based on the ancient feudal system in China.
The House of Peers originally comprised:
- the Crown Prince from age of 18
- all imperial princes (shinnō) and lesser princes of the imperial blood (ō) over the age of twenty
- all princes and marquis over the age of 25 (raised to age 30 in 1925)
- 150 representatives elected from the ranks of counts, viscounts, and barons over the age of 25 (raised to age 30 in 1925), for seven year terms
- 150 additional members nominated by the Emperor, in consultation with the Privy Council
- 66 elected representatives of the 6,000 highest taxpayers, for 7 year terms.
For the first session of the Imperial Diet (1889-1890), there were 145 hereditary members and 106 imperial appointees and high taxpayers, for a total of 251 members.
With the creation of new peers, additional seats for members of the former Korean aristocracy and five seats for representatives from the Gakushuin Peer's School, membership peaked at 403 seats by 1925. In its 92nd and final session, the number of members was 373.
[edit] Presidents of the House of Peers
| Name | Title | Dates as President | Sessions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ito Hirobumi | Count | 24 October 1890 – 20 July 1891 | 1 |
| 2 | Hachisuka Mochiaki | Marquis | 20 July 1891 – 3 October 1896 | 2-9 |
| 3 | Konoe Atsumaro | Prince | 3 October 1896 – 4 December 1903 | 10-18 |
| 4 | Tokugawa Iesato | Prince | 4 December 1903 – 9 June 1933 | 19-64 |
| 5 | Konoe Fumimaro | Prince | 9 June 1933 – 17 June 1937 | 65-70 |
| 6 | Matsudaira Yorinaga | Count | 17 June 1937 – 11 October 1944 | 71-85 |
| 7 | Tokugawa Kuniyuki | Prince | 11 October 1944 – 19 June 1946 | 86-89 |
| 8 | Tokugawa Iemasa | Prince | 19 June 1946 – 2 May 1947 | 90-92 |
After World War II, under the current Constitution of Japan, in effect from 3 May 1947, the unelected House of Peers was replaced by an elected House of Councillors.
