On June 29, the speaker of the House of Representatives named 70 members (chosen to represent the parties proportionally) to serve as an ad hoc committee on [constitutional] revision. This chapter shows that, from the outset, members displayed considerable anguish about the draft's language (was it a mere translation of a foreign proposal?), and particularly its rude restrictions on the emperor's role. It examines the mounting tensions led, in mid-July, to a dramatic quarrel between Colonel Kades and the cabinet minister in charge of the revision project, Kanamori Tokujirō, focusing on whether kokutai (Japan's unique polity) had survived in the revision.
Keywords: committee on revision, draft as translation, emperor's role, Charles Kades, kokutai, Kanamori Tokujirō