0. Page summary

This webpage introduces how to search, mainly on the internet, treaties, resolutions, petitions and statements of questions / written answers as subjects discussed at the Diet. Please refer to "How to Search Legislative Bills" for legislative bills and "How to Search Budgets and Settlement of Accounts" for budgets and settlements. Also, please refer to "How to Search Information on Meetings of the Diet" to search the deliberation progress of bills written in the minutes.
Most of the links below are in Japanese.

1. Treaties

Concluding treaties is a duty of the Cabinet and it requires the Diet's approval. The following shows how to search the treaties submitted to the Diet.

• 外務省 Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Treaties submitted to the Diet (in English)
Users can see the full text of treaties submitted to the Diet recently (from the 154th Diet session (2002) to the 183rd Diet session (2013)).
条約 Treaties (in Japanese)
Users can see the full text of treaties and other related materials submitted to the Diet recently (from the 154th Diet session (2002) or later).

• 衆議院 The House of Representatives 議案 Agenda Information - 条約 Treaties (from the 142nd Diet session (1998) or later)

Users can confirm the subjects, discussions and progress information of treaties.

• 参議院 The House of Councillors 議案情報 Agenda Information - 条約 Treaties (from the 153rd Diet session (2001) or later).

Users can confirm the subjects, deliberation progress, and summaries of treaties.

• 国立国会図書館 National Diet Library - 日本法令索引 Index Database of Japanese Laws, Regulations and Bills

Click 詳細検索 and then 法律案・条約承認案件検索. Click checkbox 全選択・解除 and then checkbox 条約 so that you can search all the treaties debated in the 1st Diet session (1947) onward. As with the legislative bills, users can confirm deliberation progress and access related minutes and reports preserved in the Full-text Database System for the Minutes of the Diet.

2. Resolutions

Both Houses express their intentions internally and externally through resolutions.
The subjects of resolutions varies widely, ranging from pursuing political accountability such as through a non-confidence motion to the Cabinet, managing the Diet, or extending congratulations and sympathies.
The resolutions of the Houses are published in the minutes of plenary sessions. The following pages also provide relevant information.

• The House of Representatives - Agenda Information - 決議 Resolutions

Users can confirm the deliberation progress, and the text of draft resolutions approved by the plenary sessions of the 142nd Diet session (1998) or later.

• The House of Councillors - ライブラリー Library

Users can confirm the deliberation progress, and the text of draft resolutions approved by the plenary sessions of the 164th Diet session (2006) or later, and the 1st to the 163rd Diet sessions (1947-2005).

• The House of Councillors Agenda Information - 議案審議情報 Information on Agenda Deliberation

Users can confirm the deliberation progress, and the text of draft resolutions in the 153rd Diet session (2001) or later.

Resolutions of committees and House of Councillors' research committees

These types of resolutions can also be made at the committees and the House of Councillors' research committees. Users can confirm the resolutions on the House of Councillors' websites, or through the minutes of the relevant committees or the research committees.

• The House of Councillors - Library - 委員会・調査会決議 Resolutions of the committees / research committees (from the 164th Diet session (2006) or later)

Supplementary resolutions

Resolutions of committees made at the time of voting on referred items such as legislative bills are called supplementary resolutions, as they are intended to accompany referred items. Users can see supplementary resolutions on the following websites or in the minutes of the plenary sessions.

• The House of Representatives - 通過議案要旨集 Summaries of agendas passed (from the 168th Diet session (2007) or later)
• The House of Councillors - Agenda Information - 附帯決議 Supplementary resolutions (from the 164th Diet Session (2006) or later)

3. Petitions

Anyone can submit a petition to the Houses by referral from a Diet member. Upon receiving a petition, the presiding officer of the House will prepare a petition document table and refer the petition to an appropriate committee according to its content. The referred committee and the plenary session will conduct a vote to decide whether the petition should be adopted or not. The adopted petitions that are considered appropriate to be addressed by the Cabinet will be sent to the Prime Minister by the presiding officer. The Cabinet will report the deliberation progress of petitions twice a year.
The petitions will not be printed out, and only a summary of each petition will be added to the petition document table. Users can see the subjects of petitions on the following websites:

• The House of Representatives - 請願情報 Petition information (from the 143rd Diet session (1998) or later)
• The House of Councillors - Library - 請願 Petition (from the 153rd Diet session (2001) or later) - This website has summaries of petitions. For the petitions which were adopted and sent to the Cabinet, users can see the Cabinet's deliberation progress.

4. Statements of Questions / Written Answers

Regardless of agenda type, Diet members can ask the Cabinet to explain the facts or make clear its standpoints in writing. A Diet member who wants to ask a question will prepare a statement of question and submit it to the presiding officer. The statement of question approved by the presiding officer is sent to the Cabinet, and the Cabinet must respond to it within seven days from the date of receipt.
The statement of question / written answer will be included in the minutes of the plenary sessions. Users can also see them on the following websites:

• The House of Representatives - 質問答弁情報 Information of Statements of Questions / Written Answers (The 1st Diet session (1947) or later)
• The House of Councillors - 質問主意書 Statements of questions (The 1st Diet session (1947) or later)