Minister of the Right

Premodern Japan
Imperial seal of Japan
Part of a series on the politics and
government of Japan during the
Nara and Heian periods
Daijō-daijin
Minister of the LeftSadaijin
Minister of the RightUdaijin
Minister of the CenterNaidaijin
Major CounselorDainagon
Middle CounselorChūnagon
Minor CounselorShōnagon
Eight Ministries
CenterNakatsukasa-shō  
CeremonialShikibu-shō
Civil AdministrationJibu-shō
Popular AffairsMinbu-shō
WarHyōbu-shō
JusticeGyōbu-shō
TreasuryŌkura-shō
Imperial HouseholdKunai-shō

Minister of the Right[1] (右大臣, Udaijin) was a government position in Japan during the Asuka to Meiji era. 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 administrative body called the Daijō-kan (Council of State). This early Daijō-kan was composed of the three ministers—the Daijō-daijin (Chancellor), the Sadaijin (Minister of the Left) and the Udaijin.[2] The Udaijin was the Junior Minister of State, overseeing all branches of the Daijō-kan. He would be the deputy of the Sadaijin.[3]

From the Kamakura period (1185–1333), when the warrior class came to power in Japan, this imperial court position became an honorary position with no real authority. Oda Nobunaga, who was a powerful daimyo in the Azuchi-Momoyama period, was a daimyo who held this imperial court position. This was the first time since Minamoto no Sanetomo in 1218 that a member of the warrior class had been appointed Udaijin. Previously, the only warrior class members appointed to higher positions than Udaijin were Taira no Kiyomori and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu as Daijō-daijin, and Ashikaga Yoshinori and Ashikaga Yoshimasa as Sadaijin. The warrior class was able to use the high imperial court positions of Daijō-daijin, Sadaijin, and Udaijin, which had originally belonged to the nobility, as a means of establishing their own authority.[4][5][6]

  1. ^ Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary, Kenkyusha Limited, ISBN 4-7674-2015-6
  2. ^ Hall, John Whitney et al. (1993). The Cambridge History of Japan, p. 232.
  3. ^ Shin-meikai-kokugo-jiten, Sanseido Co., Ltd., Tokyo 1974
  4. ^ 「麒麟がくる」コラム】織田信長はどんどん昇進。信長は官職についてどう考えていたのか (in Japanese). Yahoo News. 6 January 2021. Archived from the original on 7 March 2024. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  5. ^ 織田信長に与えられた官位「右近衛大将」が意味すること (in Japanese). 10m TV. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  6. ^ NHK大河ドラマ「麒麟がくる」に登場　古い権威を無視し、あえて将軍にならなかった織田信長のリーダー論 (in Japanese). IT Media. 18 January 2020. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2024.