# 日本国憲法 / The Constitution of Japan — 前文 (Preamble) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/preamble. Every law, and how to address a provision: https://japanlaw.org/llms.txt. The same laws as MCP tools (no sign-in): https://japanlaw.org/mcp. - Law: 日本国憲法 (The Constitution of Japan), 昭和二十一年憲法 - English title "The Constitution of Japan": Ministry of Justice translation - Kind: Constitution — the distinction between 法律 (Act), 政令 (Cabinet Order), 省令 (Ministerial Order) and 条例 (local ordinance) decides who may issue it and what it may say. - Provision: 前文 (Preamble) — address `preamble` - Text in force since: 1947-05-03 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/preamble - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/321CONSTITUTION/preamble - Every provision below carries its address and both URLs on the line under it. - Japanese text: e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁). English: as marked on each line below. Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect; the text below is a copy of it. Every English rendering below is a translation and says which kind: the Ministry of Justice's translation, or this site's machine translation, whose model and date the Sources list names. They are never merged and never substituted for one another. --- ## 前文 preamble · https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/preamble · https://japanlaw.org/l/321CONSTITUTION/preamble **第一項** 日本国民は、正当に選挙された国会における代表者を通じて行動し、われらとわれらの子孫のために、諸国民との協和による成果と、わが国全土にわたつて自由のもたらす恵沢を確保し、政府の行為によつて再び戦争の惨禍が起ることのないやうにすることを決意し、ここに主権が国民に存することを宣言し、この憲法を確定する。そもそも国政は、国民の厳粛な信託によるものであつて、その権威は国民に由来し、その権力は国民の代表者がこれを行使し、その福利は国民がこれを享受する。これは人類普遍の原理であり、この憲法は、かかる原理に基くものである。われらは、これに反する一切の憲法、法令及び詔勅を排除する。 preamble/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/preamble/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/321CONSTITUTION/preamble/par-1 We, the Japanese people, acting through our duly elected representatives in the National Diet, determined that we shall secure for ourselves and our posterity the fruits of peaceful cooperation with all nations and the blessings of liberty throughout this land, and resolved that never again shall we be visited with the horrors of war through the action of government, do proclaim that sovereign power resides with the people and do firmly establish this Constitution. Government is a sacred trust of the people, the authority for which is derived from the people, the powers of which are exercised by the representatives of the people, and the benefits of which are enjoyed by the people. This is a universal principle of mankind upon which this Constitution is founded. We reject and revoke all constitutions, laws, ordinances, and rescripts in conflict herewith. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 日本国民は、恒久の平和を念願し、人間相互の関係を支配する崇高な理想を深く自覚するのであつて、平和を愛する諸国民の公正と信義に信頼して、われらの安全と生存を保持しようと決意した。われらは、平和を維持し、専制と隷従、圧迫と偏狭を地上から永遠に除去しようと努めてゐる国際社会において、名誉ある地位を占めたいと思ふ。われらは、全世界の国民が、ひとしく恐怖と欠乏から免かれ、平和のうちに生存する権利を有することを確認する。 preamble/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/preamble/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/321CONSTITUTION/preamble/par-2 We, the Japanese people, desire peace for all time and are deeply conscious of the high ideals controlling human relationship, and we have determined to preserve our security and existence, trusting in the justice and faith of the peace-loving peoples of the world. We desire to occupy an honored place in an international society striving for the preservation of peace, and the banishment of tyranny and slavery, oppression and intolerance for all time from the earth. We recognize that all peoples of the world have the right to live in peace, free from fear and want. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第三項** われらは、いづれの国家も、自国のことのみに専念して他国を無視してはならないのであつて、政治道徳の法則は、普遍的なものであり、この法則に従ふことは、自国の主権を維持し、他国と対等関係に立たうとする各国の責務であると信ずる。 preamble/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/preamble/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/321CONSTITUTION/preamble/par-3 We believe that no nation is responsible to itself alone, but that laws of political morality are universal; and that obedience to such laws is incumbent upon all nations who would sustain their own sovereignty and justify their sovereign relationship with other nations. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第四項** 日本国民は、国家の名誉にかけ、全力をあげてこの崇高な理想と目的を達成することを誓ふ。 preamble/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/preamble/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/321CONSTITUTION/preamble/par-4 We, the Japanese people, pledge our national honor to accomplish these high ideals and purposes with all our resources. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 日本国憲法 — the text in force from 1947-05-03 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/321CONSTITUTION/19470503_000000000000000), retrieved 2026-09-16 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — The Constitution of Japan — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/174/tb), retrieved 2026-09-16 - This site's parser, version 211 — 日本国憲法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-09-16