Gozen Kaigi

nihongo|Imperial Conference|御前会議|Gozen Kaigi (literally the conference before the noble face) was an extraconstitutional conference of matters of grave national importance in foreign affairs that were convened by the government of Japan in the presence of the Emperor.

History and background

After the implementation of the Meiji Constitution, day-to-day affairs in the Meiji government were managed by a cabinet system headed by a Prime Minister with the emperor evolving gradually to more of a ceremonial head of state.

However, on critical matters, extraconstitutional conferences were called to obtain final imperial approval for specific courses of action, which had already been previously decided upon by the civilian government, elder statesmen (genro) and/or the military authorities at Liaison Conferences ("Reraku kaigi"). As a rule, the emperor listened to discussions, but remained silent through the proceedings. That the emperor would ever disagree, let alone veto, the prearranged decisions presented at the "Gozen Kaigi" was unthinkable. [Dear, The Oxford Companion to World War II, pp.416]

Typically attending the "Gozen Kaigi" were (in addition to the Emperor himself) [Bix, Hirohito: The Making of Modern Japan pp.328] :
* the Prime Minister
* the Minister of Foreign Affairs
* the Minister of Finance
* the President of the Planning Board
* the Minister of War
* the Minister of the Navy
* the Chief of the Army General Staff and
* the Chief of the Navy General Staff

Press announcement were typically issued immediately after each "Gozen Kaigi", listing attendees, what each person wore, and stressing the unanimity of any decision. [Bix, Hirohito: The Making of Modern Japan, pp.328]

The first "Gozen Kaigi" was convened just before the First Sino-Japanese War. Others were held just before the Russo-Japanese War, entry into World War I, the signing of the Tripartite Pact, various times during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and probably just before the attack on Pearl Harbor. [Lee, Marching Orders, The Untold Story of World War II. Pp.506]

It was only at the final conference, in August 1945 for the acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration, that the emperor broke his traditional silence to end a deadlock in discussions by personally advocating unconditional surrender.

References

*cite book
last = Bix
first = Herbert B
year = 2001
title = Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
publisher = Harper Perennial
location =
id = ISBN 0060931302
*cite book
last = Dear
first = I.B.C.
coauthors = Foot, MRD
year = 2002
title = The Oxford Companion to World War II
publisher = Oxford University Press
location = ISBN 0198604467
id =
*cite book
last = Lee
first = Bruce
year = 2001
title = Marching Orders: The UNtold Story Of World War II
publisher = Da Capo Press
location =
id = ISBN 0306810360

Notes