{{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 The Japanese word ''Sosai'' (Japanese:総裁, "Sōsai") means roughly "president" or "director-general". It is used in several ways:

Political

*Sosai, or president of the government, was only once the title of the imperial prime minister: from 1 January 1868 (before there was no cabinet, only chief advisers: '' Kampaku'' to the nominally reigning

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

and both ''

Rōjū The , usually translated as ''Elder (administrative title), Elder'', was one of the highest-ranking government posts under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council of Elders as a wh ...

'' and ''

Tairō ''Tairō'' (, "great elder") was a high-ranking official position in the Tokugawa shogunate government of Japan, roughly comparable to the office of prime minister. The ''tairō'' presided over the governing '' rōjū'' council in the event of an ...

'' to the de facto ruling ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

'') until 11 June 1868:

Prince Arisugawa Taruhito was a Japanese career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army, who became the 9th head of the line of '' shinnōke'' cadet branches of the Imperial Family of Japan on September 9, 1871. Early life Prince Arisugawa Taruhito was born in Kyoto in ...

(1835–1895); next the prime ministerial office is styled '' U Daijin'' "Ministers to the Right", in 1871 shortened to ''Daijin''. *Sosai also was the title of Admiral Takeaki Enomoto (1836–1908), the elected president (27 January 1869 – 27 June 1869) of the short-lived rebellious Ezo Republic on the present Hokkaidō Island, vanquished by Imperial troops. *Sosai, or President of

Liberal Democratic Party Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

, is the office of the head of the LDP.

Others

This office also exist in various sports, in particular

budō is a Japanese language, Japanese term describing modern Japanese martial arts. It is commonly translated as "Martial Way", or the "Way of Martial Arts". Etymology is a compound of the root ( or ; ), meaning "war" or "martial"; and ( or ; ), ...

, business and charitable organizations. The term is also used to translate the head of various foreign organizations. The most famous of such people is Sōsai Ōyama Masutatsu, who earned this appellation by creating a

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

style called

Kyokushin is a style of karate originating in Japan. It is a full-contact style of stand-up fighting and is rooted in a philosophy of self-improvement, discipline, and hard training. Kyokushin Kaikan is the martial arts organization founded in 1964 ...

kai and spreading karate in the western world. Mas Oyama is an exceptional icon to be called "Sosai" because of his contributions especially in the world of Martial Arts and in the overall history of Japan. Heads of state Heads of government Japanese words and phrases