The court ranks of Japan, also known in Japanese as ikai (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 now one of 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]

Court ranks

Upper ranks

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), Kusunoki Masashige (1880), Nitta Yoshisada (1882), Shimazu Nariakira (1901), Konoe Tadahiro (1904), Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1915), Oda Nobunaga (1917, the last recipient)[3]
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 (wife of shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi) (1702), Keisho-in (mother of shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi) (1702), Iso no Miya Tomoko (wife of shōgun Tokugawa Ieharu (1783), Shimazu no Shigehime (wife of Tokugawa Ienari) (1792), Shimazu Hisamitsu (1887), Tokugawa Yoshinobu (1888), Ōkubo Toshimichi (1901), Tōgō Heihachirō (1934), Shigeru Yoshida (1967), Eisaku Satō (1975), Yasuhiro Nakasone (2019), Shinzo Abe (2022)
Senior Second Rank 正二位 shō ni-i Minamoto no Yoritomo (1189), Toyotomi Hideyori (1602), Konoe Tadahiro (1824), Saisho Atsushi (1910), Nogi Maresuke (1916), Shibusawa Eiichi (1931), Ryutaro Hashimoto (2006)
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), 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), Akio Morita (1999)
Junior Third Rank 従三位 ju san-mi Asa no Miya Akiko (1658), Tenshō-in (1858), Katō Kiyomasa (1910), Akira Kurosawa (1998), Hisaya Morishige (2009), Isuzu Yamada (2012), Ken Takakura (2014), Donald Keene (2019), Sadako Ogata (2019)

Fourth Rank

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

Fifth Rank

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)

Sixth Rank

English translation Japanese text Romanized Japanese Notes
Senior Sixth Rank, Upper Grade 正六位上 shō roku-i no jō Kōrō Sasaki (1978)
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

Seventh Rank

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

Eighth Rank

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

Initial Rank

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

Court positions

  • Councilor (参議, sangi)
  • Lieutenant of the Right Division of Inner Palace Guards (右近衛将監, ukon'e no shōgen)
  • Lieutenant of the Left Division of Inner Palace Guards (左近衛将監, sakon'e no shōgen)
  • Chamberlain (蔵人, kurōdo)[4]
  • Provisional Assistant Master of the Left Military Guard (左兵衛権佐, sahyō'e gon no suke)
  • Assistant Chamberlain (次侍従, ji-jijū)
  • Provisional Minor Captain of the Left Division of Inner Palace Guards (左近衛権少将, sakon'e gon no shōshō)
  • Captain of the Right Division of the Bureau of Horses (右馬頭, migi no uma no kami)
  • Provisional Middle Captain of the Right Division of Inner Palace Guards (右近衛権中将, ukon'e no gon no chūjō)
  • Provisional Governor (権守, gon no kami)
  • Head Chamberlain (蔵人頭, kurōdo no tō, or kurōdo no kami)
  • Assistant Head of Left Military Guards (左兵衛佐, sahyōe no suke)
  • Senior Counselor (大納言, dainagon)
  • Provisional Senior Counselor (権大納言, gon-dainagon)
  • Controller of the Left (左大弁, sadaiben)
  • Imperial Tutor or Reader (侍読, jidoku)
  • Palace Assistant (中宮亮, chūgū-no-suke)
  • Grand Empress (皇太后, kōtaigō)

Hereditary titles

References

  1. ↑ "政府、安倍元首相に最高勲章の贈呈決定（共同通信）". Yahoo!ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  2. ↑ "安倍氏に従一位、大勲位菊花章頸飾を授与". Sankai (in Japanese). 11 July 2022. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
  3. ↑ "叙位最高位「正一位」最後に贈られたのは1917年の織田信長". News-postseven. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  4. ↑ The Tale of Genji: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.