CONTENTS
| CHAPTER I | |
| THE EMPEROR: IMPORTANT IMPERIAL EDICTS AND RESCRIPTS | |
| page | |
| The Opening of International Intercourse—The Restoration of Administrative Power to the Emperor—Imperial Oath of the Five Principles—The Constitution and Rules of the Deliberative Assembly of the Local Authorities—Administrative Reform—The Opening of the Assembly of Provincial Authorities—The Drafting of the Constitutional Law—The Establishment of a Parliament—The Reorganization of the Cabinet—National Education—Promulgation of the Constitution—The First Meeting of the Diet—The Building of Men-of-war—Official Discipline—War with China—Volunteer Troops—The Chino-Japanese War—The Restoration of Peace—The Retrocession of the Liaotong Peninsula—The Soldiers and Sailors—The Revised Treaties—The Boxer Outbreak—War with Russia | 1 |
| CHAPTER II | |
| THE IMPERIAL FAMILY | |
| BY BARON YOSHITANE SANNOMIYA | |
| The Emperor Jimmu—The Fujiwara Family— Beginning of the Shogunate Regime—Development of a Military Class—-The Taira Clan—Yoritomo the Seji Daishogun—The Feudal System Established—The Growth of the Tokugawa Shogunate—The Pacification and Unification of the Country—Early Foreign Visits—The Arrival of Commodore Perry—The Isolation of the Shogun—The Restoration—The Resignation of the Shogun—The Civil War of 1868–1869—Development since the Restoration | 19 |
| CHAPTER III | |
| THE CONSTITUTION OF THE EMPIRE | |
| BY MARQUIS HIROBUMI ITO | |
| The Emperor’s Attributes and Powers—The Succession to the Throne —Regency—The Rights and Duties of Subjects—Religious Freedom —Freedom of Speech and Writings—The Imperial Diet—The House of Peers—The House of Representatives—The Ministers of State —The Judicature—Finance and the Budget—Amendments to the Constitution | 32 |
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