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 Ryutaro HASHIMOTO (since 11 January 1996); note-an acting prime minister-determined upon a rotational basis-serves when Prime Minister HASHIMOTO is out of the country cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister elections: none; the emperor is a constitutional monarch; 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
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 23 July 1995 (next to be held NA July 1998); 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 110, NFP 56, SDP 38, JCP 14, Sakigake 3, others 19, independents 12; note-the distribution of seats as of April 1998 is as follows-LDP 118, DPJ 41, Komei 24, SDP 21, JCP 14, Liberal Party 12, Sakigake 3, Reform Club 3, others 14, vacancies 2; House of Representatives-percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party-LDP 240, NFP 142, DPJ 52, JCP 26, SDP 15, Sun Party 10, others 15; note-the distribution of seats as of April 1998 is as follows - LDP 261, DPJ 93, Liberal Party 40, New Peace Party 37, JCP 26, SDP 15, Reform Club 9, Sakigake 2, others 17
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, chief justice is appointed by the emperor after designation by the cabinet, all other justices are appointed by the cabinet
Political parties and leaders: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Ryutaro HASHIMOTO, president, Koichi KATO, secretary general; Social Democratic Party (SDP), Takako DOI, chairperson, Tadatoshi AKIBA, secretary general; Sakigake (Harbinger), Akiko DOMOTO, chairperson, Hiroyuki SONODA, secretary general; Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), Naoto KAN, leader, Tsutomu HATA, secretary general; Japan Communist Party (JCP), Tetsuzo FUWA, chairman, Kazuo SHII, secretary general; Komei, Toshiko HAMAYOTSU, chief; Liberal Party, Ichiro OZAWA, president, Takeshi NODA, secretary general; New Peace Party, Takenori KANZAKI, leader, Tetsuzo FUYUBASHI, secretary general; Reform Club, Tatsuo OZAWA, leader, Katsuyuki ISHIDA, secretary general note: subsequent to the last legislative elections, the New Frontier Party (NFP) disbanded; the Sun Party was formed by former NFP members, but later disbanded; the DPJ was formed by former members of the SDP and Sakigake and, in April 1998, was joined by three additional parties which had formed after the NFP disbanded; Reform Club, New Peace Party, and Liberal Party were formed in January 1998 after the NFP disbanded
International organization participation: AfDB, AG (observer), APEC,
AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE (observer), CP, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO,
G- 2, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU,
ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat,
Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MTCR, NEA, NSG, OAS
(observer), OECD, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UN Security Council
(temporary), UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNRWA, UNU,
UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Kunihiko SAITO chancery: 2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 939-6700 FAX: [1] (202) 328-2187 consulate(s) general: Agana (Guam), Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston, Kansas City (Missouri), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, and Seattle consulate(s): Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands)
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas S. FOLEY embassy: 10-5, Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku (107), Tokyo mailing address: Unit 45004, Box 258, APO AP 96337-0001 telephone: [81] (3) 3224-5000 FAX: [81] (3) 3505-1862 consulate(s) general: Naha (Okinawa), Osaka-Kobe, Sapporo consulate(s): Fukuoka, Nagoya
Flag description: white with a large red disk (representing the sun without rays) in the center