0 BC (traditional founding by Emperor Jimmu)

National holiday: Birthday of the Emperor, 23 December (1933)

Constitution: 3 May 1947

Legal system: modeled after European civil law system with
English-American influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the
Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: Emperor AKIHITO (since 7 January 1989)
head of government: Prime Minister Yoshiro MORI (since 5 April 2000)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the Diet designates the
prime minister; the constitution requires that the prime minister must
command a parliamentary majority, therefore, following legislative
elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority
coalition in the House of Representatives usually becomes prime
minister
note: on 3 April 2000, Prime Minister Keizo OBUCHI suffered a stroke
and was relieved of his duties; Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio AOKI
became acting prime minister; on 5 April 2000, Yoshiro MORI was
elected prime minister by a vote in both houses of the Diet, receiving
137 out of 244 votes cast in the House of Councillors ans 335 out of
488 votes cast in the House of Representatives

Legislative branch: bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of
Councillors or Sangi-in (252 seats; one-half of the members elected
every three years - 76 seats of which are elected from the 47
multi-seat prefectural districts and 50 of which are elected from a
single nationwide list with voters casting ballots by party; members
elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the House of
Representatives or Shugi-in (500 seats - 200 of which are elected from
11 regional blocks on a proportional representation basis and 300 of
which are elected from 300 single-seat districts; members elected by
popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: House of Councillors - last held 12 July 1998 (next to be
held NA July 2001); House of Representatives - last held 20 October
1996 (next to be held by October 2000)
election results: House of Councillors - percent of vote by party -
NA; seats by party - LDP 102, DPJ 47, JCP 23, Komeito 22, SDP 13,
Liberal Party 12, independents 26, others 7; note - the distribution
of seats as of December 1999 is as follows - LDP 105, DPJ 57, Komeito
24, JCP 23, SDP 13, Liberal Party 12, independents 6,