Reconsideration of the Peace Preservation Law:
in the era of party cabinets 1918-32
2010 Volume 61 Issue 1 Pages 1_194-1_214
Details
2010 Volume 61 Issue 1 Pages 1_194-1_214
This article reconsiders the mean of the Peace Preservation Law in prewar Japan's era of party cabinets.
The Ministry of Interior (MI) took a passive attitude towards new Acts and applied existing laws against extreme thought. On the other hand, the Ministry of Justice (MJ) was more active in making new regulations because it needed a legal basis for thought control. Moreover, MI was close to Kensei-kai, as MJ with Seiyu-Kai. The KATO Taka'aki cabinet - Kensei-kai and Seiyu-kai were the Government parties - mediated between two ministries.
MI tightened its guard against overseas communists. Furthermore, Prime Minister KATO hoped to inhibit propaganda by means of the treaty between Japan and Soviet Russia rather than through domestic regulations. So, the Peace Preservation Law was enacted for punishing associations, especially communists. However, the limits of this Law were quickly exposed.
The first draft of the Bill would have allowed for the punishment of changing the parliamentary system, “Seitai”. However, political parties deleted this provision because they feared it might limit party activities.
