Amaterasu Omikani: The Shinto sun goddess and the legendary progenitor of the Imperial line. The Great Shrine of Ise is dedicated to her worship.
Bakufu: literally "tent government." The term first given to Minamoto no Yoritomo's shogunal regime at Kakamura in the late twelfth century, which gradually came to mean the administration headed by the shogun.
Bonze: synonym for hoshinnō.
Bunpō Compromise: a 1321 political compromise between the then two rival branches of the Imperial Family -- the Jimyōin (descendants of 89th Emperor Fukakasa) and the Kameyama (descendants of the 90th Emperor Kameyama, Fusakusa's full-brother). Under the arrangement, the two branches would succeed one another alternately, and that after occupying the throne for ten years, would abdicate in favor of the other. The compromise collapsed in 1331, when the 96th Emperor Go-Daigo sought to designate his eldest son as heir apparent.
Daimyo: a class of military nobles, in direct vassalage to the shogun, each heading a domain over 100,000 koku.
Dai Nihon Koku Tennō: "Emperor of the Great Empire of Japan." Titular style of the Japanese monarch adopted by the Hirota cabinet in 1936. This style was intended to heighten the grandeur of the Japanese emperor, relative to other heads of state. This style was dropped in 1945.
Daijōdaijin: the great minister of state. The top position in the diajōkan.
Daijōkan: the State Council under the ritsuryō.
Dainagon: senior counselor in the daijōkan.
Daijo-sai: literally the "Great Feast of Enthronement;" the portion of the enthronement ceremonies in which the Emperor shares a symbolic meal with Amaterasu, the Shinto sun goddess.
Dajo Tennō: retired Emperor; honorific rank generally bestowed on abdicated monarchs and, in some cases, the fathers of reigning Emperors and Empresses who never reigned in their own right. The title, which was bestowed by the shogun (and after 1867 the Emperor), could be awarded during the incumbent's lifetime or posthumously. An example of the latter case would be Prince Kan-in Sukehito (died 1792), the father of Emperor Kokaku (born 1771 reigned 1779-1840) who was posthumously awarded the rank of Dajo Tennō with the title of Keiko Tennō in 1884.
Dajodan: the council of state. This council was the central executive and legislative organ of government until the adoption of the cabinet system in 1885.
Danshaku: a baron in the abolished peerage (see Kazoku).
Denka: honorific form of address, roughly equivalent to "highness."
Diahon'ei: The Imperial General Headquarters (IGHQ) established during time of war or national emergency to centralize the emperor's military command functions in the palace. The IGHQ consisted of the Imperial Army and Navy chiefs and vice-chiefs of staff, the navy and war ministers, the inspector general of military education, and the inspector general of military aviation. SCAP abolished the IGHQ shortly after Japan's surrender.
Fujiwara: one of the four great families that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian Period (794-1185). The Fujiwara exercised tremendous power, especially during the period of regency government in 10th and 11th centuries. The clan descended from Natatomi no Kamatari (614-669). Kamatari, a member of the influential Nakatomi family, sided with Prince Naka no Ōe (the future Emperor Tenji), when the Soga family challenged the Imperial Household's authority. Naka no Ōe and Natatomi no Kamtari led a coup against the Soga in 645 and initiated a series of sweeping government reforms (see Take Reform). In 669 the Emperor Tenji (reigned 661-671), bestowed the kabane Fujiwara no Ason on Kamatari. The surname passed to Kamatari's eldest son, Fujiwara no Fuhito (659-770), and his descendants. The Fujiwara clan dominated the civil administration of Japan from 794 until the establishment of the first shogunate under Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1192. Fujiwara princes initially served as chancellors of the Imperial Court (kanpuko) and regents (sesshō) for underage monarchs. The Fujiwara were the proverbial "power behind the throne" for centuries, but never aspired to supplant the Imperial dynasty. The family's influence instead, stemmed from its matrimonial alliances with the Imperial Family. Because consorts of crown princes, younger sons, and emperors were generally Fujiwara women, the male heads of the Fujiwara house was often the brother-in-law, uncle, or maternal grandfather of the emperor. The family reached the peak of its power under Fujiwara no Michinaga (966-1027), a longtime kanpuko who was the grandfather of three emperors, the father of six empresses or imperial consorts, and the grandfather of seven additional imperial consorts. However, only forty years after Michinaga's death, his descendants could not prevent the ascension of Go-Sanjo (reigned 1068-1073), the first emperor since Go-Uda whose mother was not a Fujiwara. The system of government by retired emperor (see dajo tennō) in 1087 further weakened the Fujiwara's control over the Imperial Court. Finally, in 1156 the dynastic struggle known as the Hōgen Disturbance (Hōgen no ran), the Taira emerged as the most powerful clan. During the Heiji Disturbance (Heiji no ran) in 1160 the Taira defeated the coalition of Fujiwara and Minamoto forces. This defeat marked the end of the Fujiwara's political power. Even after the shift in political power away from the court nobility in Kyoto and to the new warrior class in the countryside, Fujiwara princes remained close advisors to the emperors for centuries. By the thirteenth century the northern branch of the Fujiwara clan split into five branch houses: Konoe, Kujō, Ichijō, Nijō, and Takatsukasa.
Gokazoku Kaigi: The Imperial Household Council, an advisory body within the Imperial Household that rules on various matters pertaining to the Emperor and Imperial Family. This body has had two distinct incarnations. The 1889 Imperial Household Law stated that council comprised all male members of the Imperial family (shinnō and ō) over the age of majority, with the emperor presiding. The 1947 Imperial Household Law substantially altered both the council's composition and its powers. Currently it is composed of the prime minister (as chair, ex-officio), the president and vice-president of the House of Councilors, the speaker and vice-speaker of the House of Representatives, the chief judge and one other judge from the Supreme Court, the grand steward (the head of the Kunaicho), and two members of the Imperial Family.
Gakushuin: literally the "Hall of Learning." Gakushuin is a private, coeducational, multi-campus school system in Tokyo. The institution has a long association with the Imperial Household and the aristocracy. Gakushuin traces its roots to a lecture hall for court nobles established on the Kyoto palace grounds by Emperor Ninkō (r. 1817-1846). In 1876 the school relocated to Tokyo under the name Kazoku Gakkō (Kazoku School). The following year the institution changed its name to Gakushuin. In 1884 the Gakushuin became a state-supported (kanritsu) primary and secondary school under the jurisdiction of the Kunaishō, not the Ministry of Education. Gakushuin enrollment was required of imperial and kazoku children as a rule, but eventually opened to selected commoner children. In 1906 the school established a separate department for girls, eventually known as Joshi Gakushuin. Before the war, the name Gakushuin was frequently translated into English as the Peers' School. In 1947 the American occupation authorities divested Gakushuin of its special status by ending its state support, removing it from the jurisdiction of the Kunaishō and placing it under the authority of the Ministry of Education, like all other Japanese schools. Since the war, the Gakushuin has evolved into a private, coeducational comprehensive educational institution (kindergarten through university).
Genji: see Minamoto
Genrō: the "elder statesmen." An extra-constitutional group of senior statesmen in the Meiji and Taisho periods, without whose consent no important government decisions, were taken. The chief members were: Prince Saionji Kinmochi (1849-1940), two-time prime minister (1906-08 and 1911-12) and an author of the 1889 Constitution; Count (later Marquis and finally Prince) Yamagata Aritomo (1838-1922), one time prime minister (1889-91), principal architect of the Imperial Army and longtime army chief of staff; and Count (later Marquis and finally Prince) Itō Hirobumi (1841-1909), four time prime minister (1885-89, 1898, and 1900-01) and principal author of the 1889 Constitution.
Gozen Kaigi: An Imperial Conference or "Conference in the Emperor's Presence." Such conferences were largely ceremonial gatherings at the Imperial Palace convened for the purpose of formally ratifying decisions already made by the government and the military chiefs of staff. The practice of holding Imperial Conferences began during the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) but fell out of use in the Taisho period (1912-26). The first Konoe cabinet (1937-38) revived the practice after the outbreak of the China Incident. The participants in the Imperial Conferences included: (1) the prime minister, (2) the ministers of war, navy, foreign affairs, finance, and commerce and industry; (3) the chiefs of staff and vice chiefs of staff of the Imperial Army and Navy, and (4) the president of the Privy Council. The Emperor presided over the Imperial Conferences but did not participate in the deliberations.
Gosekke: (see sekke)
Hakushaku: a count in the abolished peerage (see Kazoku).
Han: A daimyo domain under the Tokugawa bakufu.
Hidenka: honorific style or form of address, roughly equivalent to His, Her, or Your Imperial Highness. This style is reserved for shinnō and their consorts, naishinnō, ō and their consorts, and nyoō under both the 1889 and 1947 Imperial Household Laws.
Heika: honorific style or form of address, roughly equivalent to His, Her, or Your Imperial Majesty or His, Her, or Your Majesty. This style is reserved for the Emperor of Japan, the Empress, an Empress Dowager, and a Grand Empress Dowager under both the 1889 and 1947 Imperial Household Laws.
Heiji no Ran: or the Heiji Disturbance. The civil war of the Heiji period (1159) in which Fujiwara no Nonoyori and Minamoto no Yoshitomo led an unsuccessful rebellion against the Taira.
Heishi: see Taira family.
Hōgen no ran: or the Hōgen Disturbance. The civil war of the Hōgen era (1156), which began as a power struggle between the ex-emperor Sotoku (b. 1119 d. 1164, r. 1124-1142) and his father, the ex-emperor Toba (b. 1103 d. 1156, r. 1107-1124). After the death of 76th Emperor Konoe (r. 1141-1156), his half-brother the ex-emperor Sotoku wanted to place his own son, Shigehito Shinnō, on the throne. The ex-emperor Toba, however, arranged for yet another his sons, Masahito Shinnō, to be enthroned as 77th Emperor Go-Shirakawa (b. 1127 d. 1192, r. 1155-1159). Sutoku had the support of the Minamoto. The rival Taira clan supported Go-Shirakawa and won the war. Shigehito was obligated to become bonze, the ex-emperor Sotoku was exiled to Sanuki. The war increased the authority of Taira no Kiyomori.
Hoshinnō: literally priest shinnō. In the pre-Meiji period a title held by shinnō who embarked upon a priestly career as the head of Monzeki temple. Hoshinnō and their descendants were, by definition, ineligible to succeed to the throne. They could, however, be recalled to secular status by the bakufu or the emperor. Emperor Meiji abolished the institution of hoshinnō in 1872.
I: A court rank.
Jijûchō: Grand Chamberlain. A senior official in the Kunaicho (and the prewar Kunaisho) who schedules the emperor's appointments, supervises the work of the various domestic staff (butlers, grooms, stewards, etc.), and has administrative oversight of the Empress Dowager's household and the Crown Prince's household. The grand chamberlain is chair (ex-officio) of the Board of Chamberlains.
Jiyamiya: closest imperial princes; term for reserved for the brothers of the reigning emperor.
Kabane: The hereditary aristocratic title of an uji, denoting its social status relative to other uji and the koshitsu. The practice of granting kabane functioned in two directions. First, emperors granted their non-heir imperial sons and grandsons kabane in order to demote them to the non-royal aristocracy. This was a device to control the size of the Imperial Family, and thus the number of potential successors to the throne. Second, the granting of a new kabane could promote a noble to a higher aristocratic rank.
Kanpuko: the position of senior regent or top advisor for the emperor from the Heian Period until the Meiji Restoration. This office, along with that of sesshō was the hereditary office of the Fujiwara. From the thirteenth century onward the post rotated among the gosekke. Emperor Meiji (reigned 1867-1912) abolished the office of kanpuko in 1872.
Kakumara shogunate (1192-1333): The first shogunate in Japanese history founded by Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147-1199). After defeating the Taira in 1192, Yoritomo demanded that Emperor Go-Toba grant him the title "sei i tai shōgun." His sons Minamoto no Yorie and Minamoto no Sanetomo succeeded him as shōgun, but the family of his widow, Hōjo Misako, soon usurped power. From that point onward the Hōjo clan actually controlled the bakufu as regents while Yoritomo's descendants continued to hold the title shōgun. The Kakamura shogunate never controlled much of Japan, even though the daimyo, which ruled the provinces, swore allegiance to the shogun. The relationship between the Imperial Court at Kyoto and the bakufu at Kakamura were never cordial and partisans of the retired emperor Go-Toba staged an unsuccessful rebellion in 1221. In 1266 representatives of the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan arrived in Japan and demanded that it's immediate surrender to Mongolian rule. The Hojo refused and sent the representatives away. Kublai Khan's navy made two abortive attempts to invade Japan in 1274 and 1281.
Kashikodokoro: the holiest of the three Imperial Palace shrines (kyûchû sanden), containing the sacred mirror, the symbol of Amaterasu.
Kazoku: Literally the "flowery lineage." The kazoku was the crown appointed hereditary peerage of the 1869-1947 period. The Meiji oligarchs, as part of their Westernizing reforms, merged the kuge and the daimyo into a single aristocratic class. In addition to the existing Japanese nobility, they also awarded kazoku status to those regarded as having performed outstanding service to the country. In 1884 the government took the further step of dividing the kazoku into five ranks, explicitly based on the British peerage: (1) prince or duke (kōshaku), (2) marquis (also kōshaku but written with a different Chinese character), (3) count (hakushaku), (4) viscount (shishaku), and (5) baron (danshaku). Initially there were 11 non-imperial princes or dukes, 24 marquis, 76 counts, 324 viscount, and 74 barons, for a total of 509 peers. By 1928, through promotions and new creations there were a total of 954 peers: 18 non-imperial princes or dukes, 40 marquis, 108 counts, 379 viscounts, and 409 barons. As in Great Britain, only the actual holder of a title and his consort were considered part of the peerage. Titles passed according to strict male primogeniture, although kazoku families frequently adopted sons from collateral branches of their own houses or the non-heir sons of imperial princes and other kazoku to prevent their lines from dying out. The postwar Constitution (in effect from May 3, 1947) formally abolished the kazoku and ended the use of all titles of nobility or rank, outside the Imperial Family.
Kazokurei: The imperial ordinance installing the kazoku.
Kizokuin: or the House of Peers was the upper house of the Imperial Diet under the Meiji Constitution. The House of Peers comprised: (1) all imperial princes and princes of the blood over the age of twenty, (2) all princes and marquis over the age of thirty, (3) 150 elected representatives of the counts, viscounts, and barons, (4) 150 additional members nominated by the Emperor, in consultation with the Privy Council, and (4) 66 elected representatives of the 6,000 highest taxpayers. The Emperor from among the members of that house appointed the president and vice president of House of Peers. Like the House of Representatives, the House of Peers had very limited powers.
Kōgō: Literally the emperor's wife; Empress consort; a title held by the Emperor's wife under the 1889 and 1947 Imperial Household Laws.
Koku: unit of rice equivalent to five bushels (180 liters), indicating a daimyo's revenue and power.
Kōkyo: The entire area of the Imperial Palace.
Kōreiden: One of the three shrines in the Imperial Palace. This particular shrine is reserved for all imperial ancestors.
Kōshaku: a non-royal prince (or duke) or marquis in the abolished peerage (see Kazoku).
Koshitsu: the Imperial Household or the Imperial Family, the inclusive term for the Emperor's immediate relatives. Chapter 2, § 1 of the Imperial Household Law (1947) defines the koshitsu as: the Empress, the Grand Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager, the Kotaishi and his consort, the Kotaison and his consort, the shinnō and their consorts, the naishinnō, the ō and their consorts, and the nyoō. As a practical matter, membership in the Imperial Family is confined to descendants of the Emperor Taishō in the male line, excluding any female descendants who marry outside the Imperial Family and their descendants.
Koshitsu Tempan: The Imperial Household Law. This law governs the affairs of the emperor and the Imperial Family. Its provisions include the membership of the Imperial Family, succession to the throne, titles of Imperial Family members, regency, renunciation of Imperial Family membership, and the powers and composition of the Imperial Household Council. The current law came into effect on January 3, 1947. Only the Diet can amend it. The 1947 law replaced a previous Imperial Household Law (1889) which only the emperor could amend.
Kotaigo: the Empress Dowager or literally the Emperor's mother; title held by the widow of a previous Emperor.
Kōtaishi: title held by the heir apparent to the imperial throne, generally translated as Crown Prince; literally the eldest son of the Emperor (also see Tōgū)
Kōtaison: the eldest grandson of the Emperor who is heir apparent.
Kō-tei: Japanese term for foreign monarchs (emperors, kings, sovereign princes, etc.)
Kozoku: the former royal family of Korea (Chosen). After the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, the surviving members of the Yi (or Ri) dynasty were accorded a status equivalent to that of the then-Japanese peerage. Like the miyake and the kazoku, the surviving members of the Yi dynasty residing in Japan lost their privileged status in 1947.
Kōzuko: the Imperial lineage group. The inclusive term for the immediate Imperial Family and the imperial collaterals. The kōzuko included all descendants of an emperor in the male line (no matter how remote), excluding the ō who descended to subject status and their descendants and the descendants of naishinnō and nyoō who married into subject families. The 1947 Constitution and the 1947 Imperial Household Law abolished the kōzuko. On October 14, 1947 after action by the Imperial Household Council, fifty-one members of eleven princely houses lost their status as Imperial Family members and became commoners.
Kuge: the pre-Meiji hereditary aristocracy of the Imperial Court.
Kunaicho: the Imperial Household Agency; the downgraded version of the prewar Kunaisho. This agency: (1) has custody of the great seal of Japan and the personal seal of the emperor, (2) maintains the Imperial Palace, the various detached palaces, the imperial tombs, and any state property used by the Imperial Family, (3) maintains records pertaining to the emperors and Imperial Family, and (4) takes charge all public functions and affairs of state involving the emperor and his family. The Kunaicho is an external operating agency of the Prime Minister's Office. The head of the Kunaicho—the grand steward –is equivalent in rank to the directors-general of the other external agencies of the Prime Minister's Office (e.g., the Defense Agency, the Management and Coordination Agency). Unlike these other agency heads, however, the grand steward is not a member of the cabinet.
Kunaisho: the Imperial Household Ministry.
Kunaidaijin: the Imperial Household Minister; a senior official in the pre-war Imperial Court responsible for the management of the Imperial Household's estates and investments, the privy purse, and the board of auditors. The imperial household minister was never a member of the cabinet and the Kunaisho was administratively separate from the government (and thus, theoretically, removed from politics). In 1949 the title of imperial household minister was changed to grand steward of the Imperial Household Agency.
Kyûden: The Outer Palace or Ceremonial Palace. The main building complex in the Kōkyo sometimes equated with the Imperial Palace itself in a narrow sense. The Kyūden consists of seven interconnected structures (some 133,00 square feet). These buildings contain various audience halls, the emperor's office, banquet halls, and other facilities used for Imperial Court functions or for entertaining foreign heads of state and government. Designed primarily by Professor Yoshimura Junzo of Tokyo University of Arts, the current Kyûden was built between 1964 and 1968, at a cost of approximately $44 million. It replaced a previous Kyûden built between 1881 and 1888 and destroyed by the American bombing of Tokyo in March 1945. The Meiji era structure contained both ceremonial facilities and the living quarters of the Emperor and Empress.
May 15 Incident (Go-ichi-go Jiken): An abortive coup staged by young Japanese naval officers, resulting in the assassination of Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi on May 15, 1932. Inukai's assassination effectively put an end to party government in Japan.
Mikado: literally "exalted gate." An archaic and seldom used term for the Japanese monarch (see tennō)
Mikoto: An archiac title borne by the sons of the Emperor by his
recognized consorts. The title mikoto was gradually superseded by ō and shinnō,
although Emperor Meiji's three eldest sons (all of whom died in childhood) held
the title.
Minamoto: Also called Genji, using the alternate pronunciation of the Chinese characters for Minamoto (gen) and uji, or family (ji). The Minamoto were one of the four great clans (the others being the Fujiwara, the Taira, and the Tachibana) that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period (794-1185). Like the Taira, the Minamoto were offshoots of the Imperial Family. In 814, the Emperor Saga (reigned 809-823) awarded the kabane Minamoto no Ason to his non-heir sons; thereafter, they and their descendants ceased to be members of the Imperial Family. Several subsequent emperors gave the Minamoto surname to their non-heir sons. The most prominent of the several Minamoto families, the Seiwa Genji, descended from Minamoto no Tsunemoto (917-961), a grandson of the 50th Emperor Seiwa. Tsunemoto went to the provinces and became the founder of a major warrior dynasty. Minamoto no Mitsunaka (912-997) formed an alliance with the Fujiwara. Thereafter the Fujiwara frequently called upon the Minamoto to restore order in the capital, Heian-Kyo (or Kyoto). Mitsunaka's eldest son, Minamoto no Yorimitsu (948-1021), became the protégé of Fujiwara no Michinaga; another son, Yorinobu (968-1048) suppressed the rebellion of Taira no Tadatsune in 1032. Yorinobu's son, Minamoto no Yoriyoshi (998-1075), and grandson, Minamoto no Toshie (1039-1106), pacified most of northeastern Japan between 1051 and 1087. The Seiwa Genji's fortunes declined in the Hogen Disturbance (1156), when the Taira executed much of the line. During the Hōgen Disturbance (1160), the head of the Seiwa Genji clan, Minamoto no Yoshimoto, died in battle. Taira no Kiyomori seized power in Kyoto by forging an alliance with the retired emperors Shirakawa and Toba and infiltrating the kuge. He sent Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147-1199), the third son of Minamoto no Yoshimoto of the Seiwa Genji, into exile. In 1180 Yorimoto mounted a full-scale rebellion against the Taira rule (see Taira-Minamoto War), culminating in the destruction of the Taira and the subjugation of eastern Japan within five years. In 1192 he received the title shōgun and set up the first bakufu at Kakamura (see Kakamura Shogunate).
Miyake: imperial collateral.
Miyasama: an imperial prince or princess. A form of address equivalent to an "imperial highness"
Monzeki: a temple (under the patronage of the Imperial Household) that was once an imperial residence, or the chief resident priest or priestess in the temple.
Movement for the Union of Court and Bakufu: was an elaborate plot by the shogun's senior councilors (rōjū), Nobumasa Andō and Hirochika Kuze, designed to bolster the Tokugawa shogunate by more closely associating it with the Imperial Court. As part of the plan, Nobumasa and Hirochika forced Emperor Komei to approve the marriage of his sister, Princess Kazu, to the shogun Tokugawa Ieomichi (1846-1866) in March 1862. The marriage failed to have the desired political effect, and anti-bakufu partisans attempted to assassinate Nobumasa. When Iemochi died in 1866, Princess Kazu became a Buddhist nun. The arranged marriage hastened the demise of the Tokugawa bakufu.
Naidaijin: was the minister of the interior responsible for the management of the State Council's (Daijōkan) affairs. The office was also titled " The Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal" (or Lord Privy Seal). This was a senior official in the Kunaisho who served as the emperor's chief political advisor and the liaison between the Imperial Court and the government. The lord privy seal had custody of the imperial seals and kept track of all state documents to which that seal was affixed. In addition, the office had oversight of the imperial tombs and shrines, the imperial family archives and genealogical records, the Peerage and Heraldry Bureau, and the Gakushuin. Shidehara cabinet abolished the post on November 15, 1945 following the resignation of its last incumbent, Marquis Kido Kōichi.
Naishinnō: an imperial princess. Under the 1947 Imperial Household Law legitimate daughters of the Emperor, a the Emperor's legitimate grandduaghters in the male line, and the Emperor's legitimate great granddaughters in the male line hold this title.
Niniroku Jiken: the so-called 26 February 1936 Incident (also called the 2-26-36 Incident or the 26 February 1936 Rebellion). An armed uprising in Tokyo, organized by members of the Imperial Army's First Division. In the early hours of February 26, some 1,400 soldiers from three regiments seized control of central Tokyo amid shouts of sonnō taiken ("Revere the Emperor. Destroy the traitors"). Members of the mob assassinated the lord privy seal, Viscount Saitō Mokoto, Finance Minister Takahashi Korekiyo, and General Watanabe Jōtarō, the inspector general of military education. These soldiers and their accomplices in the countryside, failed in their attempts to kill Prime Minister Okada Keisuke, Admiral Suuki Kantaro, the grand chamberlain, Prince Saionji Kinmochi [peer], and Count Makino Nobuaki, the former lord privy seal. The rebels occupied the center of Tokyo for three days and issued a revolutionary manifesto calling for domestic reforms, direct imperial rule and a return to the traditional values of the samurai ethic. Emperor Showa refused to bow to any of their demands, proclaimed martial law and ordered the army leadership to suppress the rebellion. The rebels capitulated after the minister of war General Araki Sadao (1877-1967), and General Mazai Hinzaburo (1876-1956), a former army vice-chief of staff, told them that the Emperor opposed the rebellion and after Prince Chichibu had urged them to surrender on February 28.
No-miya: Originally this was a suffix denoting an imperial residence or temple, such as the Katsura-no-miya complex in Kyoto. Over time "no-miya" suffix came to denote membership in the kōzuko or the koshitsu. It is usually translated as "prince/princess of..." or simply "prince/princess..."
Nyōgo: An imperial lady. In the pre-Meiji period, a nyōgo was an
imperial consort formally ranking below, but practically comparable to, the
Kogō.
Nyoō: princess of the imperial blood. Under the 1947 Imperial Household Laws, legitimate female descendants of an Emperor in the male line from the third generation onward hold this title(that is, the fifth generation in absolute terms, counting the Emperor as the first).
Ō: a minor prince of the imperial blood. (1)A rank held by the Emperor's sons until or unless they specially recieved the title shinnō by Imperial Edict; (2) under the 1889 Imperial Household Law, a ranke held by the male descendants of the Emperor in the male line in the sixth and later generations; (3) under the 1947 Imperial Household Laws, a rank held by legitimate male descendants of an Emperor in the male line from the third generation onward (that is, the fifth generation in absolute terms, counting the Emperor as the first).
Ōhi: the consort of a ō.
Ōji: the title borne by the Emperor's sons by his recognized consorts from the reign of the legendary 15th Emperor Ōjin onward. This title was gradually superseded by ō and shinnō.
Ōke: A branch of the Imperial family with the hereditary rank of ō.
Renraku kaigi: The Liaison Conference, was the primary mechanism for coordination between the mostly civilian cabinet and the military chiefs of staff, from 1938 to 1944. The standing participants of the Liaison Conferences included the prime minister (as chair), the ministers of war, the navy, and foreign affairs, the army chief of staff and vice-chief of staff, the naval chief of staff and vice-chief of staff, and the director-general of the Cabinet Planning Board (who was also a minister-of-state). Occasionally the ministers of finance and of commerce and industry participated in the meetings. The Liaison Conferences were the principal forum for national security decision making during the tenures of Prime Ministers Prince Konoe Fumimaro (4 June 1937 to 5 January 1939, 22 July 1940 to 18 October 1941), Baron Hara Kiichiro (5 January to 30 August 1939), General Abe Nubuyaki (30 August 1939 to 16 January 1940), Admiral Yonai Mitsumasa (16 January to 22 July 1940), General Tojo Hideki (18 October 1941 to 18 July 1944).
Ritsuryō: a body of penal and administrative codes issued from the late seventh and early eighth centuries AD.
Sadaijin: the minister of the left; a senior position in the daijōkin.
Sangin: The House of Councilors. The upper house of the Japanese Diet, established in the 1946 Constitution.
SCAP: Supreme Commander Allied Forces Pacific. Military command held by General Douglas MacArthur from August 18, 1945 to April 6, 1951. In this capacity MacArthur was both the operational commander of Allied (i.e., British and American) land, sea, and air forces in the Pacific and military governor of occupied Japan.
Seeke: The five noble houses of Fujiwara descent --- Konoe, Kujō, Ichijō, Nijō, and Takatsukasa -- which took terns in the offices of imperial regency --- sesshō and kanpuko -- until the abolition of those offices following the Meiji Restoration. Until the marriage of then-Crown Prince Hirohito (see Emperor Showa) to Princess Kuni Nagako (Kuni-no-miya Nagako Nyoō) in January 1924, the principal consorts of emperors and crown princes had always been recruited from one of the Seeke. Emperor Showa's third daughter, the late former Princess Taka-no-miya (Kazoku), and Prince Mikasa's elder daughter, the former Princess Yasuko, married into Takatsukasa and Konoe families, respectively.
Sesshō: the office of regent.
Shina Jihen: The so-called "China Incident" or the second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). On the evening of July 7, 1937 Japanese and Chinese troops exchanged fire in the vicinity of the Marco Polo Bridge in Peking (Beijing). Despite efforts at a local settlement, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident was the first of several spontaneous engagements between Chinese Nationalist and Japanese troops in northern China. Initially the government of Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro and the Army General Staff tried to localize the conflict and arrange negotiations between local Japanese field commanders and Chinese officials. Chinese President Chiang Kai-Shek, however, mobilized his forces while at the same time demanding direct negotiations with the Japanese government. All efforts to reach a negotiated settlement collapsed after Chinese Nationalist planes bombed Japanese naval installations at Shanghai on August 14. The crisis escalated into a full-scale war, which eventually merged with the Pacific War after December 1941 and continued until Japan's surrender in August 1945. The total number of military causalities on the Chinese side has been estimated to be 3, 217,000, with an additional 5,778,000 Chinese civilians dead or injured. The estimate Japanese causalities came to 447,000 military personnel dead, plus several thousand others injured or missing.
Shinki: The sword, the mirror, and the jewel. The three symbols of the emperor's authority which, according to Shinto mythology, the Sun goddess Amaterasu bestowed on her grandson, the Emperor Jimmu.
Shinnō: an imperial prince. Under the 1947 Imperial Household the legitimate sons of an Emperor, the legitimate sons of an Emperor's son, and an Emperor's legitimate great grandsons in the male line hold this title.
Shinnō-hi: the consort of a shinnō.
Shinnōke: A collateral branch of the Imperial Family with the hereditary title of shinnō.
Shinnō Senge: An imperial decree designating a prince shinnō in the pre-Meiji period. The 1889 Imperial Household Law put an end to this practice by legally standardizing shinnō and ō status according to (patrilineal) consanguineal proximity to the reigning Emperor.
Shishaku: a viscount in the abolished peerage (see Kazoku).
Shōgun: the military ruler and head of the bakufu. The word shōgun is an abbreviation of sei i tai shōgun or "great barbarian subduing generalissimo." An emperor's military deputy originally held the title. Both Skanoye no Tamuramaro and Ohotomo no Otomaro held the title during the reign of Emperor Kwammu, but these had been temporary appointments during specific military campaigns. After defeating the Taira in 1192, Minamoto no Yoritomo (1146-1199) demanded that Emperor Go-Shirakawa appoint him shōgun for life. The shōgun was the de-facto military dictator of Japan.
Shōgun Senge: an imperial decree authenticating the title of shōgun for the bakufu nominee.
Sokui Rei Seiden no Gi: Literally, "ceremony of the enthronement of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor." This is the Japanese equivalent to a coronation.
Sumitsu-in: The Privy Council. An advisory council the Emperor on domestic, foreign and constitutional affairs established by Imperial Order in 1888. Specifically, the following matters fell within its purview: (1) questions regarding the interpretation of the 1889 Constitution and proposed amendments to it, (2) important Imperial Ordinances, (3) proposals for new laws, abolition and revision of laws in force, and the approval of treaties with other countries. The council consisted of a president, a vice president, twenty-four Councilors, a chief secretary, and three additional secretaries. The shinnō and ō (over the age of majority) were permitted to attend meetings of the Privy Council and participate in its proceedings. The Privy Council and the cabinet were independent of each other. The council was abolished in May 1947.
Supreme War Council: advisory council to the Emperor on military matters. It consisted of the imperial princes who held major military commands, the chiefs of staff of the Imperial Army and Navy, the war and navy ministers, and other generals, admirals, and field marshals appointed by the Emperor.
Taira: also called Heishi using the alternate pronunciation of the Chinese characters for Taira (hei) and uji, or family (shi). The Taira were one of the four great clans (the others being the Fujiwara, the Minamoto, and the Tachibana) that dominated Japanese court politics during the Heian period (794-1185). Like the Minamoto, the Taira were offshoots of the Imperial Family. Also like the Minamoto, the various Taira families were distinguished from one another by prefixing the posthumous name of the emperor from whom they descended to the Heishi kabane. The most prominent Taira family were the Kammu Heishi, founded in 889 by Taira no Takamochi, a great grandson of the 50th Emperor Kammu (reigned 781-806). [It should be noted that Takamune-ō (804-867), the eldest son of Kazurahara-Shinnō (786-853) and a grandson of Emperor Kammu, received the kabane of Taira no Ason in 825. Thus there were two Kammu Heishi families, one descended from Takamune and the other from his nephew, Takamochi.] Takamochi's great grandson, Taira no Korihira, moved to Ise Province (now part of Mie Prefecture) and established a major daimyo dynasty. His grandson, Masamori, and great grandson, Tadamori, became the clients of the retired emperors Shirakawa and Toba, respectively. Tadamori's son, Taira no Kiyomori, rose to the position of daijō daijin (great minister of state) following his victories in the Hōgen Disturbance (1156) and the Heiji Disturbance (1160). Kiyomori managed to enthrone his infant grandson as Emperor Antoku 1180, an act which precipitated the Gempi Disturbance (Gempi no Sōran) or the Taira-Minamoto War (1180-1185).
Tai Kotaigō: The Grand Empress Dowager, literally the Emperor's grandmother.
Teikoku Kaigün: The Japanese Imperial Navy. Created in 1868, the Imperial Navy was under the nominal supreme command of the Emperor. In late 1941 the navy consisted of 10 battleships, 18 heavy cruisers, 20 light cruisers, 6 fleet careers, 112 fleet type destroyers, and 6 submarines. The navy's command structure consisted of a Ministry of the Navy, charged with administrative matters, and a Naval General Staff, charged with command and strategic planning. SCAP formally abolished the Imperial Navy on November 30, 1945.
Teikoku Kangün: The Japanese Imperial Army. Created in 1868, the Imperial Army was under the nominal supreme command of the Emperor. During the World War II the army had peak strength of 6.4 million men, organized into 172 infantry divisions, 4 armored divisions and 13 air units. The army's command structure consisted of a Ministry of War, charged with administrative matters, and an Army General Staff, charged with command and strategic planning. SCAP formally abolished the Imperial Army on November 30, 1945.
Tenshi: An alternate term for the reigning Japanese monarch (male or female). The term literally means "son of Heaven." (See tennō and mikado).
Tennō: Title of the reigning Japanese monarch (male or female). The term, literally meaning the "heavenly sovereign," dates from the sixth or seventh century. Chapter 1, § 1 of the current Japanese constitution defines the tennō as "the symbol of the State and the unity of the people, deriving his position from the will of the people in who resides sovereign power." Since the opening of Japan in the 19th century the word tennō has usually been translated into English as "emperor." (See also tenshi and mikado)
Tennō Heika: His Imperial Majesty the Emperor (of Japan).
Tennōsei: the emperor system
Tōgū: archaic term for the Crown Prince.
Tōgū-gosho: The palace of the crown prince.
Tokugawa Family (Tokugawawashi): A major warrior dynasty that dominated Japanese politics between 1603 and 1867. The clan descended from the Matsudaira, a warrior family in the foothills of Misawa Province (now part of Aichi Prefecture), east of Nagoya. Later Tokugawa rulers claimed their family descended from the Seiwa Genji. Matsudaira Kiyoyasu (1511-1535) established control over most of Mikawa Province. His grandson Takechiyo, who adopted the name Tokugawa Iseyasu (1543-1616), defeated rival feudal lords at the Battle of Sekigaharu in 1600. Emperor Go-Yozei (1586-1611) designated Iseyasu shōgun, thus signifying that he ruled Japan in the name of the Emperor. Iseyasu established a shogun's court at Edo (now Tokyo) and ruled until 1605, when he abdicated in favor of his son Hidetada (1579-1654). The growing influence of the Portuguese Jesuits and the rapid spread of Christianity among the Japanese alarmed the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu (1604-1651). With the support of Go-Mizuno Dajo Tennō (reigned 1611-1629) he intensified the persecution of the Christians. After suppressing the Shimabara Rebellion (1637-38) in southern Kyushu, the shōgun initiated a strict national seclusion policy that closed Japan to all but a handful of Chinese and Dutch merchants for the next 252 years. The Tokugawa shoguns maintained power through the use of restrictive administrative procedures, notably sankin kotai -- a system of mandatory biannual daimyo attendance at Edo. The arrival of the US Fleet under the command of Commodore Matthew Perry in 1852, growing unrest among the Choshu and Satsuma samurai clans (enemies of the Tokugawa), and the growing perception of military and technological vulnerability led to a political crisis. This crisis culminated in the abdication of the fifteenth Tokugawa shogun, Yoshinobu (1837-1913), in 1867 and the formal abolition of the shogunate. The principal branches of the Tokugawa house survived the civil wars following the Meiji Restoration and continued to play an important (but somewhat diminished) role in Japanese politics and court life.
Uji: an aristocratic lineage group of prehistoric origin (for example, the Fujiwara, the Taira).
Zō-tennō: the posthumous rank of Emperor (Zō means "posthumosuly appointed or given").