Note 19 — Chapter VIII · THE DOMESTIC POLITICS AND PARLIAMENT OF JAPAN

The Japanese Parliament is composed of two Chambers—the House of Lords, or Peers, to which belong (1) the Princes of the Blood (13); (2) all the Princes and Marquises (40); (3) such representatives as are elected for seven years by the Counts, Viscounts, and Barons (123); (4) members who are nominated for life by the Emperor (100); (5) members elected, one for each department, and selected from among the fifteen more important personages of the department over thirty years of age (45). The Chamber of Deputies is composed of 300 members, one for every 128,000 inhabitants, and is elected by all Japanese subjects over twenty-five years of age who have resided in an electoral district for a term of twelve months, and who pay 30s. direct taxes. To be elected, the candidate must be over thirty years of age and fulfil the same conditions as above. The heads of noble families can neither be electors nor elected to the Lower Chamber. In 1895 there were 467,887 voters (11 per 1,000 inhabitants), and in all 517,130 persons (12 per 1,000), paying more than 30s. direct taxes. Among the first class there were 21,070, and among the second class 25,405 shizoku, or ancient samurai, from which fact we may take it for granted that there are fewer rich men among the ancient samurai than among the rest of the population. As to the nobles, so-called kwazoku, at least a third of the heads of noble families pay less than 30s. The proportion of shizoku among those having the right of vote is less than 5 per cent.