Equality in Article 14 of Japan’s Constitution
Article 14 of the inspected Japanese Constitution states that all nationals are equal under the law and shall not be discriminated against in political, economic or social relations on the grounds of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.
What this does and does not establish
Documentary provision, not evidence of universal implementation. Listed under 1946, the year of official proclamation, not the date it took effect. English is an AI working translation of the Japanese source, not an official translation or a broader legal interpretation. The Japanese term 国民 appears as “the people” in the preamble and “nationals” in these article translations; these renderings do not settle its legal scope.
- Read through an AI working translation.
- Region
- East Asia
- Theme
- Social life
- Kind of record
- What a document says. The wording of a document, which is not proof of what happened in practice.
How it is dated
- Date reference
- 昭和二十一年十一月三日憲法; catalogue 昭和21年（1946）11月
- How we use it
- Promulgation-year grouping of documentary text, not proof of commencement or realization.
The date reference is this project’s reading of the source’s date. It may give an era name, a reign or a calendar in a normalised form rather than in the source’s own words; the dating notes say what the source prints.
Dating notes from the research record
Year equivalence explicitly supplied by National Archives factual heading; no inferred implementation date
File names and line numbers in these notes, and in the limits above, refer to the project’s retained copies of the cited sources. Names such as calendar_headers are the project’s calendar look-ups, and “the investigator” is the research step that prepared the record.
Sources and quoted text
Line and character numbers under “Location” refer to the project’s retained copy of the source. For database rows, “Edition” names the batch of rows that was fetched together.
Source 1 · Supports the statement
Constitution of Japan, Japanese text
Government of Japan; Ministry of Justice Japanese Law Translation database
Quoted text (Japanese)
第十四条 すべて国民は、法の下に平等であつて、人種、信条、性別、社会的身分又は
門地により、政治的、経済的又は社会的関係において、差別されない。
華族その他の貴族の制度は、これを認めない。
栄誉、勲章その他の栄典の授与は、いかなる特権も伴はない。栄典の授与は、現にこ
れを有し、又は将来これを受ける者の一代に限り、その効力を有する。Line breaks follow the source layout.
AI working translation into English; not official or authoritative
All nationals are equal under the law and shall not be discriminated against in political, economic or social relations on the grounds of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin. Peerage and the peerage system shall not be recognized. No privilege shall accompany the award of honours, decorations or other distinctions, and no such award shall have effect beyond the lifetime of the person who currently holds or later receives it.
Source credit and reuse conditions recorded for this source: Attribute the official source URL. Japanese originals and AI English translations are separate; translations are not official. Provisions are documentary statements, not assertions about implementation.
Exact source version
5a669f11e685f6220cec5ac3ef2cd4029a86cf8caf873b3f2e34a309eedcc1e2Source 2 · Supports the statement
National Archives of Japan catalogue date/title
National Archives of Japan
Quoted text (Japanese)
昭和21年（1946）11月
日本国憲法が公布される
Line breaks follow the source layout.
AI working translation into English; not official or authoritative
November, Showa 21 (1946). The Constitution of Japan is promulgated.
Source credit and reuse conditions recorded for this source: Attribute the official source URL. Japanese originals and AI English translations are separate; translations are not official. Provisions are documentary statements, not assertions about implementation.
Exact source version
9b23132faf295622922556e81753e2f8e9ddcf5677e63ebf788e2383ca9e6451Checks and changes
Source checked 2026-11-04. An independent AI evidence review supports this bounded, attributed wording. That review does not guarantee historical truth. How records are checked
Before the first public release: clarified the population scope and the AI translation.
Revision p05_03_2_r3
Exact revision fingerprint
93a587324284d95506f2061257b8aeb943a0d3ac6ea9b238dd58e3508c9c4b3c