Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

was a Japanese Imperial court noble and statesman at the time of the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. He held many high-ranking offices in the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

Biography

Born in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

, Sanjō was the son of ''Naidaijin''

Sanjō Sanetsumu In Japanese, may refer to: People * Emperor Sanjō (三条天皇; Sanjō-tennō), the 67th emperor of Japan * , a Japanese kuge family Fictional characters *Kairi Sanjō and Yukari Sanjō, fictional characters from the manga series '' Shugo Cha ...

. He held several important posts in Court and became a central figure in the anti-Western, anti-Tokugawa ''

sonnō jōi was a ''yojijukugo'' (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement sought ...

'' ("Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarian") movement. When the coup d'état of September 30, 1863, brought the more moderate

Aizu is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princip ...

and

Satsuma Satsuma may refer to: * Satsuma (fruit), a citrus fruit * ''Satsuma'' (gastropod), a genus of land snails Places Japan * Satsuma, Kagoshima, a Japanese town * Satsuma District, Kagoshima, a district in Kagoshima Prefecture * Satsuma Domain, a sou ...

factions into power, he fled to Chōshū. He returned to Kyoto after the resignation of ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators 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, though during part of the Kamakur ...

Tokugawa Yoshinobu Prince was the 15th and last ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He resigned of his position as shogun in late 1867, while aiming ...

in 1867. The first administrative offices (''Sanshoku'') of the

were established on January 3, 1868: the ''Sōsai'' (President), ''Gijō'' (Administration) and ''San'yo'' (Office of Councilors). These offices were abolished on June 11, 1868, with the establishment of the '' Dajō-kan'' (Grand Council of State). In the new Meiji government, Sanjō was head of the ''Gijo'',

Minister of the Right 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 ...

(右大臣) (June 11, 1868 – August 15, 1871), and Chancellor of the Realm ('' Dajō-daijin'') (August 15, 1871 – December 22, 1885). Sanjō was awarded Grand Cordon of the Supreme

Order of the Chrysanthemum is Japan's highest order. The Grand Cordon of the Order was established in 1876 by Emperor Meiji of Japan; the Collar of the Order was added on 4 January 1888. Unlike its European counterparts, the order may be conferred posthumously. Apart f ...

in 1882. On July 7, 1884, his title was changed to that of ''koshaku'' (

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

) under the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ' ...

'' peerage system. Sanjō served until the abolition of the ''dajōkan'' system in 1885. After the Cabinet system was established, he became

Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan The was an administrative post not of Cabinet rank in the government of the Empire of Japan, responsible for keeping the Privy Seal of Japan and State Seal of Japan. The modern office of the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal was identical with the ...

. In 1889, when

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Kuroda Kiyotaka Count , also known as , was a Japanese politician of the Meiji era. He was Prime Minister of Japan from 1888 to 1889. He was also vice chairman of the Hokkaido Development Commission ( Kaitaku-shi). Biography As a Satsuma ''samurai'' Kur ...

and his cabinet resigned en masse,

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

only accepted Kuroda's resignation and formally invited Sanjō to head the government. The Emperor refused to appoint a new prime minister for the next two months, making Sanjō the only

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

(albeit interim) who also concurrently held the post of Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal.After the

Meiji Constitution The Constitution of the Empire of Japan (Kyūjitai: ; Shinjitai: , ), known informally as the Meiji Constitution (, ''Meiji Kenpō''), was the constitution of the Empire of Japan which was proclaimed on February 11, 1889, and remained in for ...

was adopted in 1890, a new system was established: "In case of death, incapacitation, resignation or removal of the prime minister, a member of the cabinet shall serve as acting prime minister until the next prime minister is formally appointed." Today Sanjō’s government is generally regarded as continuation of Kuroda’s. In 1890, he assumed a seat in the new House of Peers in the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

established by the

. On his death in 1891, he was accorded a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

. His grave is at the temple of

Gokoku-ji is a Shingon Buddhist temple in Tokyo's Bunkyō. History This Buddhist temple was established by the fifth shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, who dedicated it to his mother. It is notable for surviving the American air raids during World War II, w ...

Bunkyō is a special ward located in Tokyo, Japan. Situated in the middle of the ward area, Bunkyō is a residential and educational center. Beginning in the Meiji period, literati like Natsume Sōseki, as well as scholars and politicians have lived th ...

, Tokyo.

Honours

''From the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia'' *Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (29 December 1876) *Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (11 April 1882) *Prince (7 July 1884)

Order of precedence

* Junior fifth rank (31 January 1850) *Fifth rank (4 July 1854) * Fourth rank (22 May 1855) *Senior fourth rank (29 January 1856) * Third rank (6 November 1862; degraded 1863, restored 2 January 1868) *First rank (12 June 1868) *

Senior first rank The court ranks of Japan, also known in Japanese as ''ikai'' (位階), are indications of an individual's court rank in Japan based on the system of the state. ''Ikai'' as a system was originally used in the Ritsuryo system, which was the politi ...

(18 February 1891)

Ancestry

Notes

References

* Beasley, William G. (1972). ''The Meiji Restoration''. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
OCLC 579232
* Jansen, Marius B. and

Gilbert Rozman Gilbert Friedell Rozman (born 18 February 1943) is an American sociologist specializing in Asian studies. Rozman completed an undergraduate degree in Chinese and Russian studies at Carleton College, and earned a doctorate in sociology at Princeton ...

, eds. (1986). ''Japan in Transition: from Tokugawa to Meiji''. 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 ...

.
OCLC 12311985
* Keene, Donald. (2002). ''Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852–1912''. 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 ...

.
OCLC 46731178
* Ozaki, Yukio. (2001). ''The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan''. ranslated by Fujiko Hara Princeton: Princeton University Press.
OCLC 45363447

External links

Meiji Dignitaries
is a portrait of Sanetomi and others from 1877 * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanjo, Sanetomi 1837 births 1891 deaths 19th-century prime ministers of Japan Kazoku Kuge Meiji Restoration Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Politicians from Kyoto Prefecture People of Meiji-period Japan Prime Ministers of Japan Sanjō family Deified Japanese people