The Naidaijin (内大臣), usually translated as Inner Minister—also known as the Minister of the Center (内大臣 uchi no otodo) -- was a significant post in the Imperial court as re-organized under the Taihō Code.[1]
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Pre-Meiji period official
The role, rank and authority of the naidaijin varied, however, throughout pre-Meiji history.
In the ritsuryō system, the Minister of the Center was inferior only to the Minister of the Left (左大臣, sadaijin) and the Minister of the Right (右大臣, udaijin).
A revealing framework
Any exercise of meaningful powers of court officials in the pre-Meiji period reached its nadir during the years of the Tokugawa shogunate, and yet the structure Council of State (Daijō-kan) did manage to persist. It is not possible to evaluate any individual office without assessing its role in the context of a durable yet flexible network and hierarchy of functionaries.[2]
The highest positions in the court hierarchy can be cataloged.[3] A dry list provides a superficial glimpse inside the complexity of the court structure:
- Chancellor of the Realm or Chief Minister (太政大臣 Daijō daijin)[1]
- See also, Acting Great Minister of the Council of State (知太政官事 Chi-daijōkanji)[4]
- Minister of the Left (左大臣 Sadaijin)[1]
- Minister of the Right (右大臣 Udaijin)[1]
- Minister of the Center (内大臣 Naidaijin)[1]
- Major Counselor (大納言 Dainagon). There are commonly three Dainagon;[1] sometimes more.[5]
- Middle Counselor (中納言 Chūnagon).[1]
- Minor Counselor (少納言 Shōnagon). There are commonly three Shōnagon.[1]
- Director of palace affairs (参議 Sanghi). This office functions as a manager of activities within the palace.[6]
- External Secretariat (外記 Geki). These are specifically named men who act at the sole discretion of the emperor.[6]
- Major Controller of the Left (左大弁 Sadaiben)[4] This administrator was charged or tasked with supervising four ministries: Center, Civil Services, Ceremonies, and Taxation.[6]
- Major Controller of the Right (右大弁 Udaiben)[4] This administrator was charged or tasked with supervising four ministries: Military, Justice, Treasury and Imperial Household.[6]
The Eight Ministries
A mere list of the court titles cannot reveal nearly enough about the actual functioning of the Daijō-kan; but at least the broad hierarchical relationships become more readily identified:
- I. Ministry of the Center (中務省 Nakatsukasa-shō).[7]
- II. Ministry of Civil Services (式部省 Shikibu-shō); also known as the "Ministry of Legislative Direction and Public Instruction".[7]
- III. Ministry of Ceremonies (治部省 Jibu-shō); also known as the "Ministry of the Interior".[8]
- IV. Ministry of Taxation (民部省 Minbu-shō).[9]
- V. Ministry of the Military (兵部省 Hyōbu-shō).[9]
- VI. Ministry of Justice (刑部省 Gyōbu-shō).[10]
- VII. Ministry of the Treasury (大蔵省 Ōkura-shō).[11]
- VIII. Ministry of the Imperial Household (宮内省 Kunai-shō).[12]
Meiji period official
The office developed a different character in the Meiji period. In 1885, the title was reconfigured to mean the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan in the Imperial Court (宮中, kyūchū).[13] In that year, the office of prime minister or chief minister of the initial restoration government was the Daijō-daijin, Sanjō Sanetomi. In December, Sanjō petitioned the emperor to be relieved of his office; and he was then immediately appointed Naidaijin, or Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal.[14]
The office of the Privy Seal was identical with the old Naidaijin only in the sense of the Japanese title—not in terms of function or powers.[15]
Post-Meiji period official
The nature of the office evolved in the Taishō and Shōwa periods. The title was abolished on November 24, 1945.[16]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 425.
- ^ Ozaki, Yukio. (2001). The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan pp. 10–11.
- ^ Titsingh, pp. 425–426.
- ^ a b c Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, p.272.
- ^ Unterstein (in German): Ranks in Ancient and Meiji Japan (in English and French), pp. 6, 27.
- ^ a b c d Titsingh, p. 426.
- ^ a b Titsingh, p. 427.
- ^ Titsingh, p. 429.
- ^ a b Titsingh, p. 430.
- ^ Titsingh, p. 431.
- ^ Titisngh, p. 432.
- ^ Titsingh, p. 433.
- ^ Dus, Peter. (1988). The Cambridge History of Japan: The Twentieth Century, pp. 59, 81.
- ^ Ozaki, p. 86.
- ^ Unterstein (in German): Ranks in Ancient and Meiji Japan (in English and French), pp. 6, 27.
- ^ Glossary | Birth of the Constitution of Japan
References
- (Japanese) Asai, T. (1985). Nyokan Tūkai. Tokyo: Kōdansha.
- Dickenson, Walter G. (1869). Japan: Being a Sketch of the History, Government and Officers of the Empire. London: W. Blackwood and Sons. OCLC 10716445
- Ozaki, Yukio. (2001). The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan. [Translated by Fujiko Hara]. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 10-ISBN 0-691-05095-3 (cloth)
- (Japanese) Ozaki, Yukio. (1955). Ozak Gakudō Zenshū. Tokyo: Kōronsha.
- Sansom, George (1958). A History of Japan to 1334. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 10-ISBN 0-804-70523-2; 13-ISBN 978-0-804-70523-3
- Dus, Peter. (1988). The Cambridge History of Japan: the Twentieth Century, Vol. 6. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22357-1
- Ozaki, Yukio. (2001). The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan. [Translated by Fujiko Hara]. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 10-ISBN 0-691-05095-3 (cloth)
- Screech, Timon. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822. London: Routledge Curzon. ISBN 0-700-71720-X
- (French) Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.
- Varley, H. Paul , ed. (1980). [ Kitabatake Chikafusa, 1359], Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley). New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04940-4
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