The Constitution of the Empire of Japan, 1889 · Japan
CHAPTER II. RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF SUBJECTS
Article 18. The conditions necessary for being a Japanese subject shall be determined by law. Article 19. Japanese subjects may, according to qualifications determined in laws or ordinances, be appointed to civil or military or any other public offices equally. Article 20. Japanese subjects are amenable to service in the Army or Navy, according to the provisions of law. Article 21. Japanese subjects are amenable to the duty of paying taxes, according to the provisions of law. Article 22. Japanese subjects shall have the liberty of abode and of changing the same within the limits of the law. Article 23. No Japanese subject shall be arrested, detained, tried or punished, unless according to law. Article 24. No Japanese subject shall be deprived of his right of being tried by the judges determined by law. Article 25. Except in the cases provided for in the law, the house of no Japanese subject shall be entered or searched without his consent. Article 26. Except in the cases mentioned in the law, the secrecy of the letters of every Japanese subject shall remain inviolate. Article 27. The right of property of every Japanese subject shall remain inviolate. (2) Measures necessary to be taken for the public benefit shall be any provided for by law. Article 28. Japanese subjects shall, within limits not prejudicial to peace and order, and not antagonistic to their duties as subjects, enjoy freedom of religious belief.
Article 29. Japanese subjects shall, within the limits of law, enjoy the liberty of speech, writing, publication, public meetings and associations. Article 30. Japanese subjects may present petitions, by observing the proper forms of respect, and by complying with the rules specially provided for the same. Article 31. The provisions contained in the present Chapter shall not affect the exercises of the powers appertaining to the Emperor, in times of war or in cases of a national emergency. Article 32. Each and every one of the provisions contained in the preceding Articles of the present Chapter, that are not in conflict with the laws or the rules and discipline of the Army and Navy, shall apply to the officers and men of the Army and of the Navy. Article 33. The Imperial Diet shall consist of two Houses, a House of Peers and a House of Representatives. Article 34. The House of Peers shall, in accordance with the ordinance concerning the House of Peers, be composed of the members of the Imperial Family, of the orders of nobility, and of those who have been nominated thereto by the Emperor. Article 35. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members elected by the people, according to the provisions of the law of Election. Article 36. No one can at one and the same time be a Member of both Houses.
Article 37. Every law requires the consent of the Imperial Diet. Article 38. Both Houses shall vote upon projects of law submitted to it by the Government, and may respectively initiate projects of law. Article 39. A Bill, which has been rejected by either the one or the other of the two Houses, shall not be brought in again during the same session. Article 40. Both Houses can make representations to the Government, as to laws or upon any other subject. When, however, such representations are not accepted, they cannot be made a second time during the same session.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.