The ''Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary'', Kenkyusha Limited, was a government position in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in the late

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

and

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

s. The position was consolidated in the

Taihō Code The was an administrative reorganisation enacted in 703 in Japan, at the end of the Asuka period. It was historically one of the . It was compiled at the direction of Prince Osakabe, Fujiwara no Fuhito and Awata no Mahito. Nussbaum, Louis ...

of 702. The

Asuka Kiyomihara Code The refers to a collection of governing rules compiled and promulgated in 689, one of the first, if not the first collection of Ritsuryō laws in classical Japan. This also marks the initial appearance of the central administrative body called ...

of 689 marks the initial appearance of the ''sadaijin'' in the context of a central administrative body called the ''

Daijō-kan The , also known as the Great Council of State, was (i) (''Daijō-kan'') the highest organ of Japan's premodern Imperial government under the Ritsuryō legal system during and after the Nara period or (ii) (''Dajō-kan'') the highest organ of Jap ...

'' (Council of State). This early Daijō-kan was composed of the three ministers—the ''

daijō-daijin The was the head of the ''Daijō-kan'' (Great Council of State) during and after the Nara period and briefly under the Meiji Constitution. Equivalent to the Chinese (Grand Preceptor). History Emperor Tenji's favorite son, Prince Ōtomo, wa ...

'' (Chancellor), the ''sadaijin'' and the ''

udaijin was a government position in Japan in the late Nara and Heian periods. The position was consolidated in the Taihō Code of 702. The Asuka Kiyomihara Code of 689 marks the initial appearance of the ''udaijin'' in the context of a central administr ...

'' (Minister of the Right).Hall, John Whitney ''et al.'' (1993)
''The Cambridge History of Japan'', p. 232.
/ref> The ''sadaijin'' was the Senior Minister of State, overseeing all functions of government with the ''

'' as his deputy.''Shin-meikai-kokugo-jiten'',Sanseido Co., Ltd. Tokyo 1974 Within the ''Daijō-kan'', the ''sadaijin'' was second only to the ''

'' (the Great Minister, or Chancellor of the Realm) in power and influence. Frequently, a member of the

Fujiwara family was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since the ancient times and dominated the imperial court until ...

would take the position in order to help justify and exercise the power and influence the family held. The post of ''sadaijin'', along with the rest of the ''Daijō-kan'' structure, gradually lost power over the 10th and 11th centuries, as the Fujiwara came to dominate politics more and more. The system was essentially powerless by the end of the 12th century, when the

Minamoto was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during th ...

, a warrior clan, seized control of the country from the court aristocracy ('' kuge''). However, it is not entirely clear when the ''Daijō-kan'' system was formally dismantled prior to the Meiji era.

References

Related bibliography

* Asai, T. (1985). ''Nyokan Tūkai''. Tokyo:

Kōdansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines '' Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', '' Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' ...

. * Dickenson, Walter G. (1869). ''Japan: Being a Sketch of the History, Government and Officers of the Empire.'' London: W. Blackwood and Sons. * Hall, John Whitney, Delmer M. Brown and Kozo Yamamura. (1993)
''The Cambridge History of Japan.''
Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

. * Ozaki, Yukio. (2001). ''The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan.'' ranslated by Fujiko Hara Princeton:

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial su ...

. (cloth) * Ozaki, Yukio. (1955). ''Ozak Gakudō Zenshū.'' Tokyo: Kōronsha. * Sansom, George (1958). ''A History of Japan to 1334''. Stanford:

Stanford University Press Stanford University Press (SUP) is the publishing house of Stanford University. It is one of the oldest academic presses in the United States and the first university press to be established on the West Coast. It was among the presses officially ...

. * Screech, Timon. (2006). ''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822.'' London:

RoutledgeCurzon Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

. * Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). iyun-sai_Rin-siyo/Hayashi_Gahō,_1652.html" ;"title="Hayashi_Gahō.html" ;"title="iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō">iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652">Hayashi_Gahō.html" ;"title="iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō">iyun-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 was a Japanese court noble and writer of the 14th century who supported the Southern Court in the Nanboku-cho period, serving as advisor to five Emperors. Some of his greatest and most famous work was performed during the reign of Emperor G ...

, 1359], ''

Jinnō Shōtōki is a Japanese historical book written by Kitabatake Chikafusa. The work sought both to clarify the genesis and potential consequences of a contemporary crisis in Japanese politics, and to dispel or at least ameliorate the prevailing disorder. ...

("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley).'' New York:

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...

. {{ISBN, 0-231-04940-4 Government of feudal Japan Japanese historical terms Meiji Restoration

See also

References

Related bibliography