The 1947 constitution altered the relationship between state and society by introducing popular sovereignty. The constitution’s social reforms were transformative, designing a new role for the Japanese imperial family, placing the nation’s military firmly under civilian control, and establishing new rights for women. Those who have argued most strenuously for revision of the document chafe against its occupation origins. More recently, the Japanese people have been more open to thinking about how the constitution could be amended to reflect challenges Japan faces in the twenty-first century.

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