Page:A handbook of modern Japan (IA handbookofmodern01clem).pdf/190

140 to fill any honorary office to which he may be elected or appointed; and except for certain specified reasons he cannot decline official service without being "subjected to suspension of citizenship for from three to six years, together with an additional levy, during the same period, of from one-eighth to one-quarter more than his ordinary share of contribution to the city expenditure." Here is compulsory "public spirit"! On the whole, citizenship seems to be regarded more as a duty than as a privilege; and the citizens best qualified to fill official positions of trust would find it much more difficult than in America to "keep out of politics."

The administration of local affairs in city, town, or village is more or less centralized. In the cities the origination and the administration of the local laws devolves upon a "city council"; and in the towns and the villages, upon certain chiefs and their deputies.

A city council consists of a mayor, his deputy, and a certain number of honorary councilmen. The mayor is appointed directly by the Emperor from among three candidates previously selected by the city assembly, a body to be described later. The deputy-mayor and councilmen are elected by the city assembly. The councilmen hold office for four years, but half of them retire every two years. In the case of a very large city it is permissible to divide the city into Ku (wards), each with its own chief and deputy and even council and assembly. The func