The Naidaijin (内大臣, Naidaijin?), 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]
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:[4]
- 1. 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?).[5]
- 2. Minister of the Left (左大臣, Sadaijin?).[1]
- 3. Minister of the Right (右大臣, Udaijin?).[1]
- 4. Minister of the Center (内大臣, Naidaijin?).[1]
- 5. Major Counselor (大納言, Dainagon?). There are commonly three Dainagon;[1] sometimes more.[6]
- 6. Middle Counselor (中納言, Chūnagon?).[1]
- 7. Minor Counselor (少納言, Shōnagon?). There are commonly three Shōnagon.[1]
- 8. Director of palace affairs (参議,, Sanghi?). This office functions as a manager of activities within the palace.[7]
- 9. External Secretariat (外記, Geki?). These are specifically named men who act at the sole discretion of the emperor.[7]
- 10. Major Controller of the Left (左大弁, Sadaiben,?)[5] This administrator was charged or tasked with supervising four ministries: Center, Civil Services, Ceremonies, and Taxation.[7]
- 11. Major Controller of the Right (右大弁, Udaiben?)[5] This administrator was charged or tasked with supervising four ministries: Military, Justice, Treasury and Imperial Household.[7]
- 12. First Assistant Controller of the Left (左中弁,, Satchūben?).[7]
- 13. First Assistant Controller of the Right (右中弁,, Utchūben?).[7]
- 14. Second Assistant Controller of the Left (左少弁,, Sashōben?).[7]
- 15. Second Assistant Controller of the Right (右少弁,, Ushōben?).[7]
- 16. First Secretary of the Left (左大史,, Sadaishi?).[7]
- 17. First Secretary of the Right (右大史,, Udaishi?).[7]
- 18. Assistant Secretaries of the Left or Right (史少丞,, Shi shō-shō?). There are twenty officials with this title.[7]
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?).[8]
- II. Ministry of the Civil Services (式部省,, Shikibu-shō?); also known as the "Ministry of Legislative Direction and Public Instruction".[8]
- III. Ministry of the Ceremonies (治部省,, Jibu-shō?); also known as the "Ministry of the Interior".[9]
- IV. Ministry of Taxation (民部省,, Minbu-shō?).[10]
- V. Ministry of Military (兵部省,, "Hyōbu-shō"?).[10]
- VI. Ministry of Justice (刑部省,, Gyōbu-shō?).[11]
- VII. Ministry of the Treasury (大蔵省,, Ōkura-shō?).[12]
- VIII. Ministry of the Imperial Household (宮内省,, Kunai-shō?).[13]
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?).[14] 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.[15]
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.[16]
Post-Meiji period official
The nature of the office evolved in the Taishō and Shōwa periods. The title was abolished on November 24, 1945.[17]
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ NOTE: In this terse listing, the numbers are an arbitrary addition, intended only to assist in grasping the relative relationships. If these ordinals are perceived as unhelpful, they can be disregarded.
- ^ 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 e f g h i j k 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
- (Japanese) Asai, T. (1985). Nyokan Tūkai. Tokyo: Kōdansha.
- 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, tr. par M. Isaac Titsingh avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M. J. Klaproth. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. ...Click link for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)
- 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
See also
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