What Is Japan's Constitutional Monarchy Government?

A constitutional monarchy is a form of government established under a constitutional system which acknowledges an elected monarch as head of state, opposed to an absolute monarchy, where the monarch is not bound by a constitution and is the sole source of political power. The process of government and law within a constitutional monarchy is usually very different from that in the absolute monarchy.

Most constitutional monarchies take on a parliamentary form, like Japan, where the monarch may be regarded as the head of state but the prime minister, whose power derives directly or even indirectly from elections, is head of government.