Editing Constitution of Japan (section)

=== The Potsdam Declaration ===
On 26 July 1945, shortly before the end of [[World War II]], [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] leaders of the [[United States]] (President [[Harry S. Truman]]), the [[United Kingdom]] (Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]]), and the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] (President [[Chiang Kai-shek]]) issued the [[Potsdam Declaration]]. The Declaration demanded [[Surrender of Japan|Japanese military's unconditional surrender]], [[demilitarisation]] and [[democratisation]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Oda|first=Hiroshi|url=http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232185.001.1/acprof-9780199232185|title=Japanese Law|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-19-923218-5|chapter=Sources of Law|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232185.001.1}}</ref>

The declaration defined the major goals of the post-surrender [[Occupation of Japan|Allied occupation]]: "The Japanese Government shall remove all obstacles to the revival and strengthening of democratic tendencies among the Japanese people. [[Freedom of speech]], of [[Freedom of religion|religion]], and of [[Freedom of thought|thought]], as well as respect for the fundamental human rights shall be established" (Section 10). In addition, "The [[Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers|occupying forces of the Allies]] shall be withdrawn from Japan as soon as these objectives have been accomplished and there has been established in accordance with the freely expressed will of the Japanese people a peacefully inclined and responsible government" (Section 12). The Allies sought not merely punishment or reparations from a militaristic foe, but fundamental changes in the nature of its political system. In the words of a political scientist [[Robert&nbsp;E. Ward]]: "The occupation was perhaps the single most exhaustively planned operation of massive and externally directed political change in world history."

The Japanese government, [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]] [[Kantarō Suzuki]]'s [[Kantarō Suzuki Cabinet|administration]] and Emperor [[Hirohito]] accepted the conditions of the Potsdam Declaration, which necessitates amendments to its Constitution after the surrender.<ref name=":0" />