Daijō-kan

The eighth century ritsuryō innovations would prove to be remarkably durable and resilient across the span of centuries.[4]

Any exercise of meaningful powers of court officials reached its nadir during the years of the Tokugawa shogunate, and yet the Daijō-kan did manage to persist intact through the initial years of the Meiji Restoration.[5] It is not possible to assess or evaluate any individual office without assessing its role in the context of a durable yet flexible network and hierarchy of functionaries.[6]

In the early Meiji period, the appointed Imperial Daijo-kan was filled with princes, aristocrats, loyalists domain lords (daimyō), and samurai.[7]

Within months after Emperor Meiji's Charter Oath, the ancient ritsuryō structure was slightly modified with an express focus on the separation of legislative, administrative, and judicial functions within the Daijō-kan system.[8] The evolution of a deliberative body within a modern constitutional system was gradual, and its constituent differences from the old Daijō-kan were not entirely self-evident at first, as revealed in an Imperial message in 1869:

The Assembly shall be for the wide ranging consultation of public opinion and, respecting the Imperial will which laid the foundations of national government, it will be a place where the energies of the multitude are harnessed. Thus, it is necessary that proceedings will show respect for the Imperial rescript, be united in purpose with the Daijō-kan, take the fundamentals of government to heart, judiciously address matters which arise, and act to ensure that unity within the country is not compromised.[9]

Some months later, another major reform of the Daijō-kan re-united the legislative and executive functions which had been clearly separated earlier.[9]

In 1871, The office of Daijō-daijin in the Great Council of State was briefly resurrected under the Meiji Constitution with the appointment of Sanjō Sanetomi. Despite the similarity of names for its constituent offices, this Daijō-kan would have been unrecognizable to Fujiwara courtiers of the Heian period. Nor would it have seemed at all familiar to those men who surrounded the emperor in the days of the Kenmu Restoration. In due course, it was decided that a modern integrated cabinet system would better serve a modern Japan. The Daijō-kan system, which had been divided into ministerial committees, would be replaced by a more modern model.

In December 1885, the old system was abolished completely;[10] and yet, even afterwards, some elements of old system were adapted to new uses. For example, in that year, the title of Naidaijin was reconfigured to mean the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan in the Imperial Court.[11] The man who had previously held the office of prime minister or chief minister of the initial restoration government was the Daijō-daijin, Sanjō Sanetomi. Sanjō petitioned the emperor to be relieved of his ancient ritsuryō office; and he was then immediately appointed Naidaijin, or Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal.[10] The office of the Privy Seal was identical with the old Naidaijin only in its Japanese title—not in terms of function or powers.[12]

This dry catalog does provide a superficial glimpse inside the complexity of what was initially designed as a pre-feudal court structure. What this list cannot easily explain is how or why the Daijō-kan turned out to be both flexible and useful across a span of centuries:

• Chancellor of the Realm (太政大臣, Daijō-daijin)[13] See also, Acting Chancellor (知太政官事, Chi-daijōkanji).[14]
• Minister of the Left (左大臣, Sadaijin).[13]
• Minister of the Right (右大臣, Udaijin).[13]
• Minister of the Center (内大臣, Naidaijin).[13]
• Major Counselor (大納言, Dainagon), three positions. There are commonly three Dainagon,[13] sometimes more.[12]
• Middle Counselor (中納言, Chūnagon), three positions. There are commonly three Chunagon,[13] sometimes more.[12]
• Minor Counselor (少納言, Shōnagon), three positions. There are commonly three Shōnagon.[13]
• Associate Counselor (参議, Sangi).[15] This office functions as a manager of daijō-kan activities within the palace.[16]
• External secretariat (外記, Geki). These are specifically named men who act at the sole discretion of the emperor.[16]
• Major controller of the left (左大弁, Sadaiben).[14] This administrator was charged or tasked with supervising four ministries: Center, Civil Services, Ceremonies, and Popular Affairs.[16]
• Major controller of the right (右大弁, Udaiben)[14] This administrator was charged or tasked with supervising four ministries: Military, Justice, Treasury and Imperial Household.[16]
• First assistant controller of the left (左中弁, Sachūben).[16]
• First assistant controller of the right (右中弁, Uchūben).[16]
• Second assistant controller of the left (左少弁, Sashōben).[16]
• Second assistant controller of the right (右少弁, Ushōben).[16]
• First secretary of the left (左大史, Sadaishi).[16]
• First secretary of the right (右大史, Udaishi).[16]
• Assistant secretaries of the left or right (史生, Shishō), 20 positions. There are twenty officials with this title.[16]

The Asuka-, Nara- and Heian-period Imperial court hierarchy encompassed a multi-faceted bureaucracy focused on serving the needs of the Emperor, the Imperial family, the Imperial household and the Imperial state.[17]

Imperial power and prestige would wax and wane during the subsequent Kamakura-, Kenmu-, Muromachi-, Nanboku-chō-, Sengoku-, Azuchi–Momoyama-, and Edo-periods; nevertheless, the basic structure of the Imperial household remained largely unchanged. A mere list of the court titles cannot reveal nearly enough about the actual functioning of the Daijō-kan; but the hierarchical relationships sketch a general context.

Even nominal administrative powers of court officials reached a nadir during the years of the Tokugawa shogunate. In this impoverished period, titles and court rank were still prized by those outside the traditional kuge. The Tokugawa shōguns did not demur when the Emperor offered rank and an office in the court:

• Tokugawa Ieyasu had the rank of Jūichii (First Rank, Second Class) and the office of Udaijin (Great Minister of the Right, i.e., inferior to the Minister of the Left)[35]
• Tokugawa Hidetada had the rank of Jūichii and was Daijō Daijin (the Great Minister or Chancellor of the Realm)[36]
• Tokugawa Iemitsu had the same rank and was Sadaijin (Great Minister of the Left, i.e., superior to the Minister of the Right)[37]
• Tokugawa Ietsuna had the rank of Shōnii (Second Rank, First Class) and was Udaijin[36]
• Tokugawa Tsunayoshi had the rank of Shōnii and was Udaijin[36]
• Tokugawa Ienobu had the rank of Shōnii was Naidaijin (Great Minister of the center, i.e., inferior to the Minister of the Left)[38]
• Tokugawa Ietsugu had the rank of Shōnii was also Nadaijin[36]
• Tokugawa Yoshimune held the rank of Shōnii and was Udaijin[36]
• Tokugawa Ieshige also held the rank of Shōnii and was Udaijin[36]
• Tokugawa Ieharu also held the rank of Shōnii and was Udaijin[36]
• Tokugawa Ienari was Dainagon (Great Counselor)[36]
• Tokugawa Ieyoshi
• Tokugawa Iesada
• Tokugawa Iemochi
• Tokugawa Yoshinobu

The country was divided into provinces called kuni (国), which were administered by governors kokushi (国司) appointed by the Daijō-kan. The provinces were then further divided into districts called gun (郡, /kōri), under district governors gunji (郡司) who were appointed by the local nobility. At the beginning of the eighth century, there were 592 districts making up 66 provinces.

• Engishiki
• Imperial Household Agency
• Kōkyū
• Kuge
• Kugyō
• Sesshō and Kampaku
• Taihō Code
• Takahashi Ujibumi
• Twelve Level Cap and Rank System
• Yōrō Code

• National Archives of Japan – Drawings of the Dajokan Building (November, 1877)
• National Archives of Japan – Illustration of the new Dajokan Building (1877)
• National Archives of Japan – Drawings for construction of the new building housing the ministries of Home Affairs and Finance (1874)
• National Archives of Japan – Request concerning family registration statistics (1869)