Zhang Dong, The Transformation of the Suffrage and Its Characters under the Structure of ‘Ikkun Banmin’ in Early Modern Japan

　　Whenever facing national crises and influenced by the criticism of the Western theories such as natural rights, the suffrage was considered as a ‘special public right’ in early modern Japan. This complied with the Japanese thought regarding the Emperor-and-Country loving and the Tenno-Seido. Therefore, the private rights owned by an individual were conditioned by the nation's public interests. Under the Meiji Constitution underpinned by the state organic view, the Mikado endowed his people with the rights to vote under the structure of ‘Ikkun Banmin’, and then general election. Meanwhile, in order to get rid of his political responsibilities, the Mikado emphasised his fairness and justice, and his status became only in name. With the ever-enlarging suffrage, the fairness of elections was also increasingly emphasised. Following the ‘May Fifteenth Incident’ in 1932, the Cabinet launched rectification movements of elections which represented the holy meaning of assisting the Mikado. However, later elections were flawed by the ‘unconstitutional suspicion’ of the Taisho-Assisting Party. The suffrage of early modern Japan has continually harmonized with the Tenno-Seido, jeopardising ‘Ikkun Banmin’. Eventually, this provided opportunities for revolution which happened inside, and for making it possible to open for the symbolic Tenno-Seido and national sovereignty.