The (lit. the department of governance affairs) was a division of the eighth century

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese government of the

Imperial Court in Kyoto The Imperial Court in Kyoto was the nominal ruling government of Japan from 794 AD until the Meiji period (1868–1912), after which the court was moved from Kyoto (formerly Heian-kyō) to Tokyo (formerly Edo) and integrated into the Meiji go ...

), and it is sometimes identified as the "Ministry of the Interior".Ministry of Ceremonial
Sheffield.

History

It was instituted as part of the

Taika Reforms The were a set of doctrines established by Emperor Kōtoku (孝徳天皇 ''Kōtoku tennō'') in the year 645. They were written shortly after the death of Prince Shōtoku and the defeat of the Soga clan (蘇我氏 ''Soga no uji''), uniting Japan ...

and ''

Ritsuryō is the historical Japanese legal system, legal system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Legalism (Chinese philosophy), Chinese Legalism in Feudal Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (). ''Kya ...

'' laws in the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...

and formalized during the

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 Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

. It was previously called ''Osamuru-tsukasa.'' The ministry was replaced in the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

. Today the Board of Ceremonies (宮内庁式部職 ; ''Shikibu shoku'') of the Imperial Household Agency is the successor.

Overview

The ministry was organized to address the ceremonial aspects of the Imperial year, to manage the ceremonial nature of formal relations with China, Korea, and other nations, and to oversee the maintenance of Imperial tombs and mausoleums. The ceremonies of the Imperial Household evolved over time. The ambit of the Ministry's activities encompasses, for example: * maintenance of the roster of names of officialsKawakami, citing Ito Hirobumi, ''Commentaries on the Japanese Constitution,'' p. 87 (1889). * oversight of the succession and marriage of officials of and above the fifth grade of rank * oversight of formalities relating to deaths, funerals and the granting of posthumous rank * management of the memorial activities which honor the anniversaries of the demise of a former Emperor * monitoring and recording of the names of all the former Emperors, so that none of those names shall be used by any of the succeeding Emperors nor by any subject * adjudication of disputes about the order of precedence of the various families * supervision of all matters relating to the music * registration of names of Buddhistic temples, priests and nuns * reception and entertainment of foreigners and managing to their presentation to the Emperor * maintenance of the imperial sepulchers (''misasagi'') and royal

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s (''

kofun are megalithic tombs or tumulus, tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century AD.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞 ...

''), including oversight of those in attendance upon them. This ministry was also responsible for rules for noble families above the fifth rank.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al.'' (2005). "Jibushō" in

Hierarchy

The top ritsuryō officials within this ministry structure were: * .Varley, Paul. (1980). ''Jinnō Shōtōki'', p. 272; Nussbaum, p. 418. * .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). * * * * * * * * .Titsingh, * , two positions * . This official is charged with receiving ambassadors from China and Korea and serving as interpreters for them. * * , two positions * , two positions * , two positions * , two positions * , two positions * , two positions

Notes

References

* Kawakami, Karl Kiyoshi. (1903). ''The Political Ideas of the Modern Japan.'' Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Press
OCLC 466275784 Internet Archive, full text
* Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan Encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

.
OCLC 48943301
* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''

Nihon Odai Ichiran Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in t ...

''; ou
''Annales des empereurs du Japon.''
Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
OCLC 5850691
* Varley, H. Paul. (1980)
''Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns.''
New York: Columbia University Press.
OCLC 59145842
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry of the Ceremonies Government of feudal Japan Meiji Restoration

Ceremonies A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil (secular) ceremoni ...

History

Overview

Hierarchy

See also

Notes

References