WI: Japanese Nobility survives 1947

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The implementation of the May 3rd, 1947 Constitution of Japan officially abolished the unelected House of Peers - replacing it instead with the elected House of Councillors.

With membership in the house being restricted to only the enobled, it's dissolution effectively ended the purpose of the Japanese kazoku, who likewise lost their titles in 1947.

What if this didn't happen? What if the framers of the Japanese constitution felt it wise to keep the Peerage intact as another intrinsically conservative pillar against potential Communist expansion?
How might post-war Japanese society be different with the noblility still in existence as a political class?

And if survival of the House of Peers is too implausible, what about just the kazoku?
 

SsgtC

Banned
It's possible. The existing nobles could be allowed to retain their titles. In turn, certain noble families are allowed to retain their seats in Parliament as a hereditary seat. The rest of the seats are left open for election with the winners of those seats granted a non-hereditary title. Similar to the United Kingdom's House of Lords.
 
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As far as I know the GHQ originally wanted to abolish the bicameral system completely and it took some efforts from the Japanese government to persuade the GHQ why unicameralism wouldn't work in Japan. Another issue is that the House of Peers itself being a notorious hotbed of anti-parliamentarism; after the infamous downfall of Kiyoura cabinet in 1924, the Peers reform became one of the rally points for the constitutionalist politics. You will need very different political climates in the both countries and a very different mindset for the GHQ to make this happen.
 
It's possible. The existing nobles could be allowed to retain their titles. In turn, certain noble families are allowed to retain their seats in Parliament as a hereditary seat. The rest of the seats are left open for election with the winners of those seats granted a non-hereditary title. Similar to the United Kingdom's House of Lords.

I like this idea.
Though a House of Lords that was still politically empowered would have some knock on effects. I wonder what it would do in the Japanese case.
Maybe it would further entrench zaibatsu inefficiency regarding innovation, limiting post-war economic growth?
 
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I don't see this happening unless the titles are almost totally gutted of power. Too many nobles backed the militarist government and the last thing the US would want is to see it return. The US might not care to much if they were merely honorary titles but considering the importance of honor in WWII Japanese society even that may be difficult.
 
I don't see this happening unless the titles are almost totally gutted of power. Too many nobles backed the militarist government and the last thing the US would want is to see it return. The US might not care to much if they were merely honorary titles but considering the importance of honor in WWII Japanese society even that may be difficult.
Maybe have the issue delay a few years and come the Korean War (oh wait, UN police action) the US would have been more receptive to a more militant & assertive Japan as a bulwark against Communist military projection in the far east...
 
You have to stop Japan from crossing the line that pushed America into wanting unconditional surrender from Japan.
 
Maybe have the issue delay a few years and come the Korean War (oh wait, UN police action) the US would have been more receptive to a more militant & assertive Japan as a bulwark against Communist military projection in the far east...

Not to that extent. We could have used the help but it would have been politically impossible. We just fought a very bloody war against precisely those people.
 
Hm. Now that I think about, it seems really difficult. I guess what the other guys said about Communism becoming a bigger threat would be a better way to restore the Japanese nobility.

Except we wouldn't need them for that. We wouldn't want the nobles but the enlisted and possibly junior officers.
 
The 1947 constitution was a fairly progressive document. You would probably need different framers to get the House of Peers preserved.
 
Not to that extent. We could have used the help but it would have been politically impossible. We just fought a very bloody war against precisely those people.
... and a lot of ex-Wehrmacht generals ended up serving in the armed forces of both Germanys after a while, so it is certainly possible for the US to let bygones be bygones when there's the current threat to deal with. Perhaps what's needed if for MacArthur to be more sympathetic to the old structure of the government. I mean, wasn't he the guy in OTL that had the notion that the Emperor of Japan must be kept for said country's stability?
 
... and a lot of ex-Wehrmacht generals ended up serving in the armed forces of both Germanys after a while, so it is certainly possible for the US to let bygones be bygones when there's the current threat to deal with. Perhaps what's needed if for MacArthur to be more sympathetic to the old structure of the government. I mean, wasn't he the guy in OTL that had the notion that the Emperor of Japan must be kept for said country's stability?

It is one thing to allow them to have military command , particularly under observation, and another to hand them political power.
 
It is one thing to allow them to have military command , particularly under observation, and another to hand them political power.
Maybe a gradual phase in for the Japanese scenario? Something like letting them going through the motions of government (using that as a trial run for the population to get used to what their government will be like after the occupation ends) while only gradually giving said government actual powers as to when it was determined they're "mature" enough (i.e. after the nobility has been properly molded).

Not to mention there's an advantage in having a part of the government that is not answerable to the people. Maybe a few more minor PODs then like some in the US government fundamentally misunderstanding the nature of Japanese fanaticism in WWII (like believing it to be bottom up rather than top down, which might be in part from hearing stories about the junior officers assassinating for not being fanatical enough or whatever). Another POD would be more communist sympathizers among the commoners in Japanese society (or even mere perception of, it's not like hindsight reality is that important), thus in which a nobility that is a counterbalance to the will of the people starts to look like a good idea...
 
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