Hozumi Yatsuka

Hozumi, 1912

Hozumi Yatsuka ( Japanese 穂 積 八 束 ; born March 20, 1860 in Iyo Province (now Ehime Prefecture ); died October 5, 1912 ) was a Japanese legal scholar during the Meiji period . He was the younger brother of the legal scholar Hozumi Nobushige .

life and work

Hozumi Yatsuka was born a samurai in the Uwajima domain. He studied from 1879 to 1883 law at the University of Tokyo and then from 1884 to 1888 at the University of Strasbourg under Paul Laband (1838-1918). In 1889 he became a professor of public and administrative law in Tokyo and taught there until 1912, where he was dean of the law faculty from 1897 to 1911.

In 1889 Hozumi was accepted into the House of Lords, and from 1908 he was an advisor to the Tennō. Hozumi also sat on government committees dealing with the imperial household and on committees dealing with education.

The main area of ​​work Hozumi was the constitutional legislation. He rejected the parliamentary form of government and the power of political parties. His understanding of the constitution was based on the Japanese tradition, which he wanted to continue as a leading legal theorist regarding the “Imperial System” (天皇制, Tennō-sei). With his equation of the Tennō with the Japanese constitution, he put himself in sharp contrast to the "organ theory of the emperor", as it had been formulated by Minobe Tatsukichi . He also rejected the civil code formulated in 1890, which was based on the corresponding legislation in France.

Hozumi wrote repeatedly about the Constitution and constitutional legislation, including a .: “Fundamentals of Legislation” (行政法 大意, Gyōseihō taii; 1896), “Overview of the Constitution” (憲法 提要, Kempō teiyō; 1910).

Remarks

1. ↑ The "organ theory of the emperor" (天皇 機関 説, Tennō kikan-setsu) relativized the position of the Tennō. It was increasingly criticized by conservative circles in the 1930s.

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Hozumi Yatsuka . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X
• Hunter, Janet: Hozumi Yatsuka . In: Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History. Kodansha International, 1984. ISBN 4-7700-1193-8 .

Web links

Commons : Hozumi Yatsuka  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Hozumi is the family name, Yatsuka the first name.