Ministry of Ceremonies (Japan)


The Ministry of Civil Administration, and it is sometimes identified as the "Ministry of the Interior".

History

It was instituted as part of the Taika Reforms and Ritsuryō laws in the Asuka period and formalized during the Heian period. It was previously called Osamuru-tsukasa. The ministry was replaced in the Meiji period. Today the Board of Ceremonies 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 officials
  • 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 and royal burial mounds, including oversight of those in attendance upon them.
This ministry was also responsible for rules for noble families above the fifth rank.

Hierarchy

The top ritsuryō officials within this ministry structure were:
  • Master of Ceremonies.
  • First assistant to the Minister.
  • Second assistant to the Minister
  • Third assistant to the Minister
  • Fourth assistant to the Minister
  • Senior undersecretary
  • Alternate undersecretary
  • Chief court musician
  • First assistant musician
  • Second assistant musician.
  • Alternate musicians, two positions
  • Chief interpreter/diplomat. This official is charged with receiving ambassadors from China and Korea and serving as interpreters for them.
  • First assistant interpreter/diplomat
  • Second assistant interpreter/diplomat, two positions
  • Alternate interpreter/diplomat, two positions
  • Chief inspector of imperial tombs, two positions
  • First assistant inspector, two positions
  • Second assistant inspector, two positions
  • Alternate inspectors, two positions