Was Japan an absolute monarchy before the emperor was stripped of his powers?

Question

Was Japan an absolute monarchy before the emperor was stripped of his powers?

Answer 1

japan was never an absolute monarchy it was an imperialist nation and i kno im rite im in world. civ. rite now.

Answer 2

Japan never was an absolute monarchy.

The emperor never directly controlled the country's destiny, but government officials and influence groups took away a lot of the real power.

During the 1872-1945 period, the emperor indeed had more direct involvement in politics and personal influence on who got appointed to posts, but that power was never absolute, and there seldom was a case of appointees holding their post with doing the emperor's will as their only agenda.

Answer 3

Technically yeah, and he was the only one sane enough to consider peace.

But Allied forces still insisted on removing his powers, so much so that they were prepared to kill 200,000 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki when the Japanese are thought by many to have been likely to surrender if the Emperor was left in place.

Yay! Freedom!

Answer 4

No. The role of the emperor of Japan has historically alternated between that of a supreme-rank cleric with largely symbolic powers and that of an actual imperial ruler. An underlying imperial cult regards the emperor as being descended from gods. Until 1945, the Japanese monarchs had always been, officially, military commanders. However, contrary to the usual role of a Western monarch, they did not practically function as such. Japanese emperors have nearly always been controlled by other political forces, to varying degrees.

The growth of the samurai class from the 10th century gradually weakened the power of the imperial family over the nation, leading to a time of instability. Cloistered emperors have been known to come into conflict with the reigning emperor from time to time; a notable example is the Hōgen Rebellion of 1156, in which former Emperor Sutoku attempted to seize power from the then current Emperor Go-Shirakawa, both of whom were supported by different clans of samurai.

Note: Unlike most constitutional monarchies, even today the Emperor is not even the nominal chief executive. Rather, the Constitution of Japan explicitly vests executive power in the Cabinet and the Prime Minister. He has no powers related to government. The few duties he performs are closely regulated by the Constitution and can only be exercised with the advice and consent of the Cabinet.

Answer 5

Technically yes, WWII only ended when the Japanese emporer said "enough is enough" and overruled the Japanese warlords.