1889 → Japan became a constitutional monarchy.
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now had a new constitution.
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This meant that Japanese emperor → who was a monarch → had to rule according to set of laws - even as he retained a lot of power as the head of state.
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also had to share power with a government made up of different groups → including the Genro - the democratically elected civilian politicians in the diet and military.
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Even though emperor → now shared power with the government in practice → Meiji government continued to encourage to encourage loyalty to and reverence for the emperor → who was characterized as divine and almost god like
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→ as such - power of prime minister, cabinet and diet was very limited
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Nonetheless → Emperor Meiji and Prime ministers - between 1900 and 1912 - were capable leaders who balanced the interests of different groups within the government.
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→ with their leadership and support from the Genro → there was relative political stability during this period.
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→ this would change with the start of the Taisho Period in Japan in 1912.