Gozenkaigi

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Gozenkaigi (御前会議) or 'Conference in the Imperial presence' refers to a special kind of conference attended by the highest ranking politicians and military officials in Japan, usually conducted before the Japanese Emperor. A gozenkaigi is convened only when the state had to decide upon critical issues regarding the future of the nation. The term refers historically to two distinct conferences: one convened at Imperial Headquarters where senior military figures and the appropriate ministers determined policy on large questions of national military strategy, and the other in the Imperial presence when key issues of broader national directions were considered. Generally speaking the latter form is what is now generally referred to as the gozenkaigi.

[edit] History

There was no specific legal basis for the gozenkaigi institution. It grew out of the conference that took place in June 22, 1894, when the decision to make war on China under the Qing Dynasty (First Sino-Japanese War) was taken in the presence of Emperor Meiji. Thereafter, the gozenkaigi were convened fairly regularly through the Meiji period, and after a brief suspension of the custom under Emperor Taishō, were reconvened on some 15 occasions (1938-1945), predominantly to determine Japan’s wartime strategy in China, Southern Asia and the Pacific.

On August 14, 1945, a gozenkaigi determined to accept the Potsdam Declaration, i.e. the empire's surrender to Allies in World War II.

[edit] Modality

It was predominantly considered as a formal function, in that the standard procedure consisted of a prior formulation of policy, debated in the Cabinet and the Supreme Council, which, after a consensus had been achieved, was then expounded in the Imperial presence (“gozen”). The protocol of the prior determination of the policy to be adopted was necessary in order to avoid ‘disturbing the august serenity’ of the Emperor.

The traditional role of the Emperor was one of hearing out the senior ministers and other representatives of the state, without expressing his own personal opinion. Yet, once the deliberations were concluded, it was thought that whatever policy had been decided upon in the Emperor’s presence had received thereby an imperial sanction.

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