Recounts the climax in the House of Representatives over constitutional revision. (In Japan's new democratic dispensation, the popularly elected lower house had controlling power.) Ch. 18 tells how the two major parties in the conservative governing coalition (Liberals and Progressive Democrats) became actively involved in negotiations over the exact terms of Article 9, renouncing war and armed forces, and the disposition of imperial property. It also recounts how Colonel Kades, somewhat reluctantly, brought forward several amendments demanded by the Allied member-nations on the Far Eastern Commission, including one providing that only “civilians” could serve in the cabinet. Finally, it summarizes the proceedings of Saturday, August 24, a time for soaring eloquence and the final vote in the House of Representatives.
Keywords: civilians final vote, article 9, Far Eastern Commission, imperial property, Charles Kades, Liberal Party, Progressive Democratic Party, renunciation of war and armed forces