I hereby give my sanction to the Ordinance Prohibiting Possession of Firearms and Other Weapons under the Imperial Ordinance No. 542 of the twentieth year of Showa (1945) concerning the Orders to be issued in consequence of my acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration, and cause the same to be promulgated. Signed: Hirohito, Seal of the Emperor This first day of the sixth month of the twenty-first year of Showa (1 June 1946) Countersigned: Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru Minister of Justice Kimura Tokutaro Minister of Home Affairs Omura Seiichi Imperial Ordinance No. 300 IMPERIAL ORDINANCE PROHIBITING POSSESSION OF FIREARMS AND OTHER WEAPONS

Article 1. The possession of firearms, explo sives, or swords (hereinafter called firearms or other weapons) shall be prohibited excepting the cases where they are possessed for legitimate duty purposes in accordance with the laws and ordinances, as well as any of the cases where, by virtue of the decisions by the Minister of Home Affairs, a special permission is obtained from the Prefectural Governor concerned (or from the Superintendent-General of the Metropolitan Police Board in the case of the Metropolitan Area of Tokyo) regarding one of the following items: 1. Those necessary for the extermination of harmful birds and beasts. 2. Those required by professional hunters for their business purposes. 3. Swords having value as objects of art. 4. Explosives required for industrial purposes. The scope of the firearms or other weapons as specified in the proceeding paragraph shall be determined by the Minister of Home Affairs.

Article 2. Any person, who does not obtain premission or obtains it by fraudulent means in violation of the preceding Article and keep firearms or other weapons, shall be liable to an imprisonment with or without hard labor not exceeding three years or to a fine not exceeding 5,000 yen. Firearms or other weapons in the possession of any person, except where they are confiscated through judical process, shall be forfeited by administrative disposition no matter where their ownership lies.

Article 3. Besides what are determined by the present Ordinance, all matters necessary for prohibiting possession of firearms or other weapons shall be determined by the Minister of Home Affairs.

Supplementary Provisions: The present Ordinance shall come into force as from June 15, 1946. Any person (including his successor) who keeps firearms or other weapons at the time of enforcement of the present Ordinance and intends to keep them successively after enforcement thereof, shall apply for permission within two months according to the provisions of Article 1. Pending the disposal of permission or prohibition for the above application, the applicant is deemed as having obtained permission according to the same Article.