This webpage briefly explains budgets and settlement of accounts, and introduces how to search information on budgets and settlement of accounts on the internet.

The following materials summarize the Japanese budgeting structure in English.

• Japan's Budget Process (Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry)
• Japan's national budget: Procedure and the public debt burden (European Parliament Think Tank)

1. Financial Democracy

The Constitution of Japan, Chapter VII highlights the importance of the principles of financial democracy and the power of the Diet to administer national finances, i.e., the principle of the Diet resolution on finances (Article 83), the principle of no taxation without law (Article 84), the Diet authorization of national expenditures and state obligations (Article 85), the Board of Audit audits and Cabinet submission of the settlement of accounts of State expenditures and revenues (Article 90), the Cabinet's report on the state of national finances to the Diet and the people (Article 91).
Accordingly, discussions of budget proposals and audit of settlement of accounts are regarded as specially important as discussions of legislative bills in the Diet.

2. Budget

Japanese fiscal years start on April 1 and end on March 31.
Budget proposals can only be submitted by the Cabinet unlike to other proposals such as legislative bills. In budgetary debates, the decision of the House of Representatives shall be the decision of the Diet (as defined in the Constitution of Japan, Article 60).
Budgets comprise main budgets, supplementary budgets and provisional budgets. Each of them consists of the general accounts, special accounts, and government-related operating accounts.

Main budgets are prepared initially and submitted to the Diet by the end of January of the previous fiscal year. Supplementary budgets are prepared as additions or changes to main budgets. Provisional budgets are prepared for necessary expense payments when main budgets are not formulated by the start of a fiscal year.

Information of each fiscal year's budget is available on the websites of the Ministry of Finance and other ministries/agencies.

○ The Ministry of Finance website

• Budget (in Japanese)
• Budget (in English)

○ Official web portal of the Government of Japan e-Gov (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)

• Summary of Budgets and Settlement of accounts (in Japanese)
  A link collection of each ministry/agency's budget and settlement of account.

○ The following database managed by the Ministry of Finance shows budgets and settlement of accounts since FY1947.

• Budgets and Settlement of accounts Database (in Japanese)
  Budgets and settlement of accounts can be searched by fiscal year. Budgets since FY1969 and Settlement of accounts since FY1972 with "XML version" marks can be searched by keyword regardless of fiscal year.

3. Settlement of accounts

Settlement of accounts is prepared by the Cabinet and audited by the Board of Audit, then submitted to the Diet with audit reports. Settlement of accounts is audited by both houses independently, in contrast to budget proposals and other bills.

Each fiscal year's settlement of accounts is available on the webpages of the Ministry of Finance and each ministry/agency. Audit reports of settlement of accounts are available on the Board of Audit's webpage.

○ The Ministry of Finance's website

• Settlement of accounts (in Japanese)
• Budgets and Settlement of accounts Database(in Japanese)

○ The official web portal of the Government of Japan e-Gov (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)

• Summary of Budgets and Settlement of accounts (in Japanese)
  A link collection of each ministry/agency's budget and settlement of account.

○ Board of Audit's website

• Board of Audit (in English)
• Audit Activities (in English)

○ Audit report database (in Japanese)

This database comprises the following. Audit report of settlement of accounts since FY1947 and other audit reports are available for reference.
・Fiscal year selection
・Full-text search (keyword, fiscal year, presentation category, classification of
　　inappropriate matters, organization name (national organization,
government-related agency, incorporated administrative agency,
national university corporation, etc.)
・Reports to the Diet and the Cabinet (as needed)
・Reports matters of audit request from the Diet (Audit requests)