The Ministry of the Imperial Household (宮内省) was a division of the eighth century Japanese government of the Imperial Court in Kyoto, instituted in the Asuka period and formalized during the Heian period. The Ministry was reorganized in the Meiji period and existed until 1947, before being replaced by the Imperial Household Agency.

Overview

The needs of the Imperial Household has changed over time. The ambit of the Ministry's activities encompassed, for example:

History

When this government agency was initially established in 645, it functioned as a tax collector on Imperial land. The organization and functions of the Imperial Household were refined and regulated in the Taiho Code, which was promulgated in 701–702 during the reign of Emperor Monmu. The fundamental elements of this system evolved over the course of centuries, but the basic structures remained in place until the Meiji Restoration. This Ministry came to be responsible for everything to do with supporting the Emperor and the Imperial Family. Significant modifications were introduced in 1702, 1870, and 1889. It was reorganized into the Imperial Household Office (宮内府) in 1947, with its staff size was downscaled from 6,200 to less than 1,500, and the Office was placed under the Prime Minister. In 1949, the Imperial Household Office became the Imperial Household Agency (the current name), and placed under the fold of the newly created Prime Minister's Office (総理府), as an external agency attached to it. In 2001, the Imperial Household Agency was organizationally re-positioned under the Cabinet Office (内閣府).

Hierarchy

The court developed a supporting bureaucracy which was exclusively focused on serving the needs of the Imperial Household. Among the ritsuryō officials within this ministry structure were: The deliberate redundancies at the top are features of each position in this remarkably stable hierarchic schema. Many positions would mirror the -kyō, -taifu, -shō, -jō, and -sakan pattern.