The Meiji Constitution was promulgated on February 11, 1889 as a gracious gift from the Emperor to his subjects. The chief features of the Constitution could be summarized as follows.

The Emperor -- Article One of the Constitution stated that Japan "shall be reigned over and governed by a line of Emperors unbroken for ages eternal." The emperor was also described as "sacred and inviolable." The divine emperor exercised all executive authority through a cabinet and ministers responsible to him. He was also the supreme commander of the armed forces. At the same time, the emperor had many prerogatives over the Diet. For instance, he could at any time prorogue (discontinue) the Diet or dissolve the House of Representatives. When the Diet was not in session, he could issue imperial ordinances which took the place of law until the Diet could take action on them. (the ordinances were invalid if the Diet failed to approve them)

Legislative power -- the Diet -- legislative authority rested with the Diet which consisted of two chambers -- a House of Peers and a House of Representatives. The House of Peers comprised members of the reconstituted nobility (former feudal lords and other dignitaries), a number of imperial nominees, and some representatives of the highest tax-payers. It was meant to be a conservative check on the House of Representatives. By the Constitution, the powers of the House of Peers equalled those of the House of Representatives; and in practice it was able to veto legislation passed up to it by the lower house. The House of Representatives was an entirely elected body, chosen by a strictly limited electorate. (Adult males who paid national taxes of fifteen yen or more -- this category numbered 450,000 in 1890, only a little bit over one per cent of the population) It met, apart from extraordinary sessions at times of crisis, for three months of the year. The Diet was to exercise real legislative powers and its consent was required for all laws, including imperial ordinances. Its most important weapon was its control over the budget.

Executive power-- the Cabinet -- a cabinet with a Prime Minister and other ministers exercised executive power under the Constitution. All cabinet ministers were directly responsible to the emperor, not the Diet. There was no rule that ministers should be members of the Diet.

Judicial power -- a judiciary branch of government was created, but it was controlled by the Justice Ministry. This meant that the executive branch had control over the judiciary.

Popular rights -- Citizenship -- the Constitution included an extensive series of popular rights, such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, publication, public meetings, and association, liberty of residence, and rights to property and due process of law. But each of these rights were qualified, expressly, in every case by such phrases as "except in cases provided for in the law," or "within limits not prejudicial to peace and order..." The duties of a subject were stated to be those of paying taxes and serving in the armed forces.

Significance -- a glance at the Constitution would reveal that it had made the Emperor both transcendent and powerful. He was transcendent because he was divine and not subjected to public discussion. He was powerful because he exercised all executive authority and also "the legislative power with the consent of the Diet." Once again, the Meiji Oligarchs made use of the imperial institution to preserve their leadership of the country. In the next ten years or so, three important Meiji leaders -- Ito, Yamagata, Matsukata -- alternatively held the post of Prime Minister. Also in 1890, the Imperial Rescript on Education was issued to strength imperial influence among the Japanese.

On the other hand, the newly created Diet possessed real powers to challenge the oligarchy's authority. Its two weapons were its legislative power and its control over the budget. For the latter, an article in the Constitution stated that if the Diet did not vote on, or reject, the Budget, the government could carry out the Budget of the preceding year. However, Meiji Japan was a fast growing country, and the preceding year's Budget seldom met the requirements of the year. Time and again, the Meiji oligarchs had to make greater concessions to the Diet than what they had anticipated for its approval of the Budget.
It has been said that "the Meiji Constitution was a blend of many conflicting ideas." This statement is true to a great extent. Ito, who was responsible for the drafting of tin Constitution, successfully balanced the various political forces that had put pressure on the constitutional draft, For those advocates of liberal ideas like Okuma, enough scope had been given for semi-parliamentary government such as legislative and budgetary powers of the Diet. For those like Motoda Eifu who had hoped for a conservative document, the provision of imperial prerogatives satisfied them. For those like Yamagata who insisted on the autonomy under the Emperor of the armed forces and the direct responsibility of ministers to the Throne, both his ideas were accepted. The Meiji Constitution was truly Japanese even though Ito had learnt much from the German example. It proved to be more flexible than had been intended, and it lasted until 1946.

However, the Constitution contained a number of inconsistencies and ambiguities which were especially obvious when there was a weaker and less unified leadership than the Meiji oligarchy. For instance, the Constitution assumed moral leadership provided by the Emperor on government and parliament. Yet there was no specific institution that actually represented the Emperor's will. The Privy Council was only the highest advisory body of the country and it was not part of the Constitution. In addition, the Constitution was ambiguous on the cabinet's/Diet's control over the armed forces. As later events proved, the armed forces in Japan assumed autonomy and in the l930s saw itself the true representation of imperial will.

Conclusion -- all in all, it is easier to agree with the view that "considering the period when it was written, the feudal background of the men in control of the government, and the nature of Japanese society and politics, it (the Constitution) established perhaps as liberal a system of government as could have worked in Japan at that time." It represented "a real, if modest, advance in the direction of parliamentary participation in government."