The is, according to the '' Nihon Shoki'' of 720, a document authored by

Prince Shōtoku , also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Anahobe no Hashihito, who was also Yōmei's younger half ...

in 604. It was adopted in the reign of

Empress Suiko (554 – 15 April 628) was the 33rd monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 推古天皇 (33)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Suiko reigned from 593 until her death in 628. In the history of Japan, ...

. The emphasis of the document is not so much on the basic laws by which the state was to be governed, such as one may expect from a modern

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these prin ...

, but rather it was a highly

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or a ...

document that focused on the morals and virtues that were to be expected of government officials and the emperor's subjects to ensure a smooth running of the state, where the emperor was to be regarded as the highest authority. It is one of the earliest constitutions in history.

Validity

The degree to which the document matches the definition of a "

" is debated. While it introduces principles of governance much like the preamble of modern constitutions such as the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

, it lacks other elements commonly expected. As William Theodore de Bary writes, “Prince Shotoku's ‘constitution’, placed more emphasis on basic moral and spiritual values than on the detailed codification of laws and their enforcement". This constitution remained valid until

Ritsuryō , , is the historical law system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese Legalism in Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (律令制). ''Kyaku'' (格) are amendments of Ritsuryō, ''Shiki'' ...

went into effect in the late seventh century. It is frequently argued that those aspects not contradicted by any subsequent legislation were still considered valid in 1890, and remain so today.The 17 Article Constitution on Duhaime.org
/ref> Conservative commentator Kase Hideaki also argues that because it has never been explicitly abolished, it is still partially valid.

References

7th century in Japan Constitutions of Japan Defunct constitutions Japanese philosophy Legal history of Japan Medieval legal texts Government documents Old Japanese texts Prince Shōtoku 604 Buddhism in the Asuka period 7th-century documents {{Japan-hist-stub