The Legislative Bureau was established in the House of Representatives in July 1948 and celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2018.
The former body of the Legislative Bureau is the Legislative Department that was established as a Bureau in each House Secretariat. The Legislative Department was created on May 3, 1947, the enforcement date of the Constitution of Japan, based on the Diet Act, as a special organization to support the legislative activities of Diet Members for the first time in the parliamentary system in Japan.
Soon after its establishment, the enhancement and strengthening of this structure became an issue and various types of scrutiny occurred in the Committee on Rules and Administration of the House of Representatives. As a result, it reached the conclusion that the most appropriate and valid measure was to establish Legislative Bureaus that are independent structures from each House Secretariat under the Speaker of each House in order to immediately respond to the fact that the Diet had become the sole law-making organ of the State under the Constitution of Japan (Article 41).
On the amendment of the Diet Act, the Act on the Legislative Bureaus of Houses of the Diet was established and both Acts were promulgated on July 5, 1948, and came into effect on the same day. At its establishment, the Legislative Bureau of the House of Representatives consisted of 7 divisions in 3 departments and had 50 seats.
Staff members of the Legislative Bureau of the House of Representatives as of July 1950
Subsequently, in association with increases in the volume of clerical work related to drafting bills, an increase in seats by 20 persons was approved in 1951; the Deputy Commissioner General was assigned and the organization expanded to 11 divisions in 4 departments in 1958; the organization expanded to 12 divisions in 5 departments in 1962; and the number of seats increased to 73 persons in 1963. This structure and number of seats continued for a long time.
After the establishment of the Legislative Planning and Coordination Dept in 1997, the structure and number of seats were additionally expanded and strengthened. In 2023, the Legislative Examination Dept was established.
The Legislative Bureau now has 16 divisions in 7 departments consisting of the Legislative Planning and Coordination Dept, Dept 1 through Dept 5, the Legislative Examination Dept, and the Superintendent of Legislation, with 88 seats.