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The court ranks of Japan, also known in Japaneseasikai (位階), are indications of an individual's court rank in Japan based on the system of the state. Ikai as a system was originally used in the Ritsuryo system, which was the political administration system used in ancient China, and the indication of the rank of bureaucrats and officials in countries that inherited (class system).
Currently, the Japanese court ranks and titles are among the types of honours conferred to those who have held government posts for a long time and to those who have made distinguished achievements. In recent times, most appointments, if not all, are offered posthumously. A recent recipient of such a court rank is the late former prime minister Shinzo Abe on 8 July 2022, who received Junior First Rank (従一位, ju ichi-i).[1][2]
The national system for ranking politicians and officials who served the Japanese dynasty began in 603 when Empress Suiko enacted the Twelve Level Cap and Rank System. Each rank was identified by the color of a crown the person with the rank wore. There were twelve ranks: Greater Virtue (大徳, dai-toku), Lesser Virtue (小徳, shō-toku), Greater Benevolence (大仁, dai-jin), Lesser Benevolence (小仁, shō-jin), Greater Propriety (大礼, dai-rei), Lesser Propriety (小礼, shō-rei), Greater Sincerity (大信, dai-shin), Lesser Sincerity (小信, shō-shin), Greater Justice (大義, dai-gi), Lesser Justice (小義, shō-gi), Greater Knowledge (大智, dai-chi), and Lesser Knowledge (小智, shō-chi), from top to bottom.
The ranking system underwent several amendments and was developed by the Taiho Code enacted in 701. Under this system, ranks were established for the Imperial family members and vassals like the following:
An Emperor was not ranked.
Princes, princesses, and other Imperial family members were ranked depending on the extent of their contribution to the nation or other factors as follows:
| English translation | Japanese text | Romanized Japanese | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Rank | 一品 | ip-pon | |
| Second Rank | 二品 | ni-hon | |
| Third Grade | 三品 | san-bon | |
| Fourth Grade | 四品 | shi-hon |
Under the Taiho Code, politicians and officials other than Imperial family members were graded according to the following ranking system.
Each of the First to Third Ranks is divided into Senior (正, shō) and Junior (従, ju). The Senior First Rank (正一位, shō ichi-i) is the highest in the rank system. It is conferred mainly on a very limited number of persons recognized by the Imperial Court as most loyal to the nation during that era.
The Junior First Rank (従一位, ju ichi-i) is the second highest rank, conferred in many cases on the highest ministers, premier feudal lords, and their wives.
Nobles with the Third Rank or upper were called kugyō.
Successive Tokugawa shoguns held the highest or near-highest court ranks, higher than most court nobles. They were made Shō ni-i (正二位, Senior Second Rank) of court rank upon assuming office, then Ju ichi-i (従一位, Junior First Rank), and the highest rank of Shō ichi-i (正一位, Senior First Rank) was conferred upon them upon their death. The Tokugawa shogunate established that the court ranks granted to daimyo by the imperial court were based on the recommendation of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the court ranks were used to control the daimyo.[3]
Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were Shō ni-i (正二位, Senior Second Rank)[4] and Ju ichi-i (従一位, Junior First Rank)[5] respectively, but both were elevated to Shō ichi-i (正一位, Senior First Rank) in the Taisho era, about 300 years after their deaths.[6]
| English translation | Japanese text | Romanized Japanese | Selected recipients |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior First Rank | 正一位 | shō ichi-i | Fujiwara no Fuhito (720), Sugawara no Michizane (993), Tokugawa Ieyasu (1617), Lady Saigō (1628), Tokugawa Hidetada (1632), Tokugawa Iemitsu (1651) |
| Junior First Rank | 従一位 | ju ichi-i | Isonokami no Maro (717), Taira no Kiyomori (1167), Ōmandokoro (1585), Nene (1588), Maeda Toshiie (1599), Oeyo (1626), Takatsukasa Nobuko [jp] (wife of shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi) (1702), Keisho-in [jp] (mother of shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi) (1702), Iso no Miya Tomoko (wife of shōgun Tokugawa Ieharu (1783), Shimazu no Shigehime (wife of Tokugawa Ienari) (1792) |
| Senior Second Rank | 正二位 | shō ni-i | Minamoto no Yoritomo (1189), Toyotomi Hideyori (1602), Konoe Tadahiro (1824) |
| Junior Second Rank | 従二位 | ju ni-i | Hōjō Masako (1218), Taira no Tokiko (12th-century), Toyotomi Hidenaga (1587), Tokugawa Muneharu (1839), Lady Kasuga (1628) |
| Senior Third Rank | 正三位 | shō san-mi | Fujiwara no Matate (764), Takano no Niigasa (781), Kitabatake Tomonori (1557) |
| Junior Third Rank | 従三位 | ju san-mi | Asa no Miya Akiko (1658), Tenshō-in (1858) |
The Fourth Rank is divided into Senior and Junior, and each is subdivided into Upper (上, jō) and Lower (下, ge) Grades. The Senior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade (正四位上, shō shi-i no jō) is the highest Fourth Rank and the Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade (従四位下, ju shi-i no ge) the lowest.
| English translation | Japanese text | Romanized Japanese | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade | 正四位上 | shō shi-i no jō | |
| Senior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade | 正四位下 | shō shi-i no ge | Matsunaga Hisahide (1561) |
| Junior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade | 従四位上 | ju shi-i no jō | |
| Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade | 従四位下 | ju shi-i no ge | Taira no Tadamori |
The Fifth Rank is divided into Senior and Junior, and each is subdivided into Upper and Lower Grades. The Senior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade (正五位上, shō go-i no jō) is the highest Fifth Rank and the Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下, ju go-i no ge) the lowest.
| English translation | Japanese text | Romanized Japanese | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade | 正五位上 | shō go-i no jō | |
| Senior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade | 正五位下 | shō go-i no ge | Kusunoki Masashige |
| Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade | 従五位上 | ju go-i no jō | Sanada Nobuyuki (1591), Yamakawa Futaba |
| Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade | 従五位下 | ju go-i no ge | Hojo Ujinao (1575), Hayashi Narinaga (1588) |
The Sixth Rank is divided into Senior and Junior, and each is subdivided into Upper and Lower Grades. The Senior Sixth Rank, Upper Grade (正六位上, shō roku-i no jō) is the highest Sixth Rank and the Junior Sixth Rank, Lower Grade (従六位下, ju roku-i no ge) the lowest.
| English translation | Japanese text | Romanized Japanese | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Sixth Rank, Upper Grade | 正六位上 | shō roku-i no jō | |
| Senior Sixth Rank, Lower Grade | 正六位下 | shō roku-i no ge | |
| Junior Sixth Rank, Upper Grade | 従六位上 | ju roku-i no jō | |
| Junior Sixth Rank, Lower Grade | 従六位下 | ju roku-i no ge |
The Seventh Rank is divided into Senior and Junior, and each is subdivided into Upper and Lower Grades. The Senior Seventh Rank, Upper Grade (正七位上, shō shichi-i no jō) is the highest Seventh Rank and the Junior Seventh Rank, Lower Grade (従七位下, ju shichi-i no ge) the lowest.
| English translation | Japanese text | Romanized Japanese | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Seventh Rank, Upper Grade | 正七位上 | shō shichi-i no jō | |
| Senior Seventh Rank, Lower Grade | 正七位下 | shō shichi-i no ge | |
| Junior Seventh Rank, Upper Grade | 従七位上 | ju shichi-i no jō | |
| Junior Seventh Rank, Lower Grade | 従七位下 | ju shichi-i no ge |
The Eighth Rank is divided into Senior and Junior, subdivided into Upper and Lower Grades. The Senior Eighth Rank, Upper Grade (正八位上, shō hachi-i no jō), is the highest, and the Junior Eighth Rank, Lower Grade (従八位下, ju hachi-i no ge), is the lowest.
| English translation | Japanese text | Romanized Japanese | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Eighth Rank, Upper Grade | 正八位上 | shō hachi-i no jō | |
| Senior Eighth Rank, Lower Grade | 正八位下 | shō hachi-i no ge | |
| Junior Eighth Rank, Upper Grade | 従八位上 | ju hachi-i no jō | |
| Junior Eighth Rank, Lower Grade | 従八位下 | ju hachi-i no ge |
The Initial Rank (初位, sho-i) is divided into Greater (大, dai) and Lesser (少, shō), and each is subdivided into Upper and Lower Grades. The Greater Initial Rank, Upper Grade (大初位上, dai sho-i no jō) is the highest Initial Rank, and the Lesser Initial Rank, Lower Grade (少初位下, shō sho-i no ge) the lowest.
| English translation | Japanese text | Romanized Japanese | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Initial Rank, Upper Grade | 大初位上 | dai sho-i no jō | |
| Greater Initial Rank, Lower Grade | 大初位下 | dai sho-i no ge | |
| Lesser Initial Rank, Upper Grade | 少初位上 | shō sho-i no jō | |
| Lesser Initial Rank, Lower Grade | 少初位下 | shō sho-i no ge |
The 1887 Ordinance on Ordination reorganized the ranking system. It abolished the Initial Ranks and the Grades of Upper and Lower of Fourth and lower Ranks. The relationships between ikai and court positions were also abolished. There were then a total of 16 ranks, ranging from the Senior First Rank (正一位, shō ichi-i) to the Junior Eighth Rank (従八位, ju hachi-i), as shown below:
| English translation | Japanese text | Romanized Japanese | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior First Rank | 正一位 | shō ichi-i | Kusunoki Masashige (1880), Nitta Yoshisada (1882), Shimazu Nariakira (1901), Konoe Tadahiro (1904), Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1915), Oda Nobunaga (1917, the last recipient)[6] |
| Junior First Rank | 従一位 | ju ichi-i | Shimazu Hisamitsu (1887), Tokugawa Yoshinobu (1888), Ōkubo Toshimichi (1901),
Ōkuma Shigenobu (1922), Tōgō Heihachirō (1934), Shigeru Yoshida (1967), Eisaku Satō (1975), Yasuhiro Nakasone (2019), Shinzo Abe (2022) |
| Senior Second Rank | 正二位 | shō ni-i | Saisho Atsushi (1910), Nogi Maresuke (1916), Shibusawa Eiichi (1931), Ryutaro Hashimoto (2006) |
| Junior Second Rank | 従二位 | ju ni-i | Uesugi Kenshin (1908), Date Masamune (1918), Mori Ōgai (1922), Hideki Yukawa (1981) |
| Senior Third Rank | 正三位 | shō san-mi | Kenkichi Yabashi (1927), Isoroku Yamamoto (1943), Mineichi Koga (1944), Yasunari Kawabata (1972), Kōnosuke Matsushita (1989), Soichiro Honda (1991), Masaru Ibuka (1997), Akio Morita (1999) |
| Junior Third Rank | 従三位 | ju san-mi | Katō Kiyomasa (1910), Akira Kurosawa (1998), Hisaya Morishige (2009), Isuzu Yamada (2012), Ken Takakura (2014), Donald Keene (2019), Sadako Ogata (2019) |
| Senior Fourth Rank | 正四位 | shō shi-i | |
| Junior Fourth Rank | 従四位 | ju shi-i | |
| Senior Fifth Rank | 正五位 | shō go-i | |
| Junior Fifth Rank | 従五位 | ju go-i | |
| Senior Sixth Rank | 正六位 | shō roku-i | Kōrō Sasaki (1978) |
| Junior Sixth Rank | 従六位 | ju roku-i | |
| Senior Seventh Rank | 正七位 | shō shichi-i | |
| Junior Seventh Rank | 従七位 | ju shichi-i | |
| Senior Eighth Rank | 正八位 | shō hachi-i | |
| Junior Eighth Rank | 従八位 | ju hachi-i |
Sanjo Sanetomi was the last living person who received the Senior First Rank (正一位) in 1891, and all subsequent recipients were posthumously received. No persons have been awarded this rank since 1917 when Oda Nobunaga was posthumously awarded.
The 1925 Decree on Ranks (位階令) restricted ordination exclusively to the purpose of conferring honors. Since the current Constitution came into effect in 1947, the presentation of ranks has been limited to those who have already died, with the idea of abolishing the privileges associated with conferring honors, and ranks have been presented posthumously.
Today, the Junior First Rank (従一位) is the highest available rank, which is posthumously conferred primarily on persons deemed being served most to the nation out of former prime ministers. The Senior Second Rank (正二位) is conferred on many former prime ministers, and the Junior Second Rank (従二位) on top-class politicians, such as former speakers of the National Diet and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The Senior Third Rank (正三位) is posthumously conferred mainly on civilians who are recognized as having done the most for the nation's development, such as founders of large companies and the novelists and artists who represented Japan. The Junior Third Rank (従三位) is in many cases conferred on artists who created Japan's famous masterpieces.
The Junior First Rank is bestowed directly by the incumbent Emperor. The Second through Fourth Ranks are awarded by Imperial decree. The awarding of the Fifth Ranks or lower is decided by a hearing from the Cabinet and a decision by the Emperor to the hearing.[6]
In the era when the Ritsuryo system was in place, the official position in the court and ikai of bureaucrats were closely related. For example, becoming the Chancellor of the Realm (太政大臣, daijō daijin), the highest position in the administration, required the Senior or Junior First Rank (正一位、従一位, shō ichi-i, ju ichi-i). To become the Minister of the Left, Right, or Center (左大臣、右大臣、内大臣, sadaijin, udaijin, naidaijin), he had to be in either the Senior Second Rank (正二位, shō ni-i) or the Junior Second Rank (従二位, ju ni-i). A Major Counselor (大納言, dainagon) needed the Senior Third Rank (正三位, shō san-mi), and a Middle Counselor (中納言, chūnagon) needed the Junior Third Rank (従三位, ju san-mi). Associate Counselors (参議, sangi) required the Senior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade (正四位下, shō shi-i no ge).[7]
Controllers needed the Junior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade. Junior Counselors required the Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade.
The Minister of the Center needed the Senior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade. Other ministers required the Senior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade.
A hereditary title was conferred by an Emperor on an Imperial family member, a noble, or a clan under the kabane system to signify his political and social status. This title was inherited from generation to generation in the family until the hereditary title system was discontinued in 1871 by law.