The two most important political innovations in ancient Japan were the Seventeen Article Constitution of Prince Shotoku (c. 604) and the Taika Reform Edicts of Emperor Kotoku . The regency of Shotoku was followed by a coup against the ruling Soga clan, from which Shotoku was derived. The new emperor, Prince Karu , together with the Imperial Prince Naka no Ohoye , issued a series of reform measures that culminated in the Taika Reform Edicts in 645. These edicts were written and sponsored by Confucian scholars in the Yamato court and in essence founded the Japanese imperial system and government. The ruler, according to these edicts, was no longer a clan leader, but Emperor (in Japanese, Tenno) that ruled by the Decree of Heaven and exercised absolute authority.

After the edicts, Japan would no longer be composed of separate states, but provinces of the Emperor that would be ruled by a centralized bureaucracy . The Reform Edicts demanded that all government officials undergo a Chinese style civil service examination. It also severely curtailed the independence of regional officials and constituted the imperial court as a place of appeal and complaint for the people. In addition, the last edicts attempted to stop certain social practices to bring Japanese society in line with Chinese social practices. Japan, however, was still largely a Neolithic culture; it would take centuries for the ideal of the Chinese style emperor to take root.

External Links

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ANCJAPAN/TAIKA.HTM