Popular sovereignty in Japan’s constitutional preamble
The preamble of the inspected Japanese Constitution declares that sovereign power resides with the people.
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
- Politics and institutions
- 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)
日本国民は、正当に選挙された国会における代表者を通じて行動し、われらとわれら
の子孫のために、諸国民との協和による成果と、わが国全土にわたつて自由のもたらす
恵沢を確保し、政府の行為によつて再び戦争の惨禍が起ることのないやうにすることを
決意し、ここに主権が国民に存することを宣言し、この憲法を確定する。そもそも国政
は、国民の厳粛な信託によるものであつて、その権威は国民に由来し、その権力は国民
の代表者がこれを行使し、その福利は国民がこれを享受する。これは人類普遍の原理で
あり、この憲法は、かかる原理に基くものである。われらは、これに反する一切の憲法、
法令及び詔勅を排除する。Line breaks follow the source layout.
AI working translation into English; not official or authoritative
We, the Japanese people, acting through our duly elected representatives in the National Diet, resolve to secure for ourselves and our posterity the fruits of peaceful cooperation with all nations and the blessings of liberty throughout our land, and resolve that the horrors of war shall never again occur through the action of government. We declare that sovereign power resides with the people and establish this Constitution. Government is a solemn trust of the people: its authority derives from the people, its power is exercised by their representatives, and its benefits are enjoyed by the people. This is a universal principle of humanity on which this Constitution is founded. We reject all constitutions, laws, ordinances and imperial rescripts in conflict with 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: corrected an ambiguous AI translation and clarified the date grouping.
Revision p05_03_1_r3
Exact revision fingerprint
1bdf18f4fa6fb5cb97e227da84ba52c843ce2e3016b53679907c2ea58b025e1b