Abstract
The Constitution of Japan, which was made in occupied Japan in 1946, has no provisions for emergency powers. A number of constitutional lawyers have argued about the intention of the absence or luck of them since around 1956. Many of them appreciate the absence or luck of emergency power clauses positively and share the recognition that emergency power provisions in the constitution is naturally incompatible with the constitutionalism. On the other hand, in the arena of practical politics, it has been considered indispensable to the state to have legislation enabling the government to take emergency measures at the time of crisis since Japan restored its sovereignty and independence in 1952. But some laws relating to a state of emergency or crisis have been criticized unconstitutional by many constitutional lawyers. In 2012, Japanese ruling party LDP published the draft of an amendment to Constitution of Japan including the provisions for emergency powers. Coming up this draft, it is no more fruitful to argue why the Constitution has not provisions for emergency powers and researching its meaning. A new stage is coming to a discussion of an emergency power. Now it must be considered how the emergency powers should be provided in the coming revised Constitution of Japan. This article examines that how an emergency power has been discussed in Japan and proposes the necessity of introducing it into the Constitution.
