Shikibu-shō

The nihongo|Shikibu-shō|式部省| was one of the divisions of the Japanese government (Imperial Court in Kyoto), instituted in the Asuka period and formalized during the Heian period This Imperial ministry was concerned primarily with administrative matters. This part of the bureaucracy has been variously identified as the Ministry of the Civil Services, the Ministry of Legislative Direction and Public Instruction, [Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). "Annales des empereurs du japon," p. 427.] and the Ministry of Civil Administration. [ [http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk/civadminmin.shtml Ministry of Civil Administration] , Sheffield.]

This ministry collected and maintained biographical archives of meritorious subjects. [Ury, Marian. (1999). "Chinese Learning and Intellectual Life," "The Cambridge history of Japan: Heian Japan", p. 361.]

The Shikibu-shō had the following duties:
*Supervision of the listings of civil officers.
*Assisting in court office and rank appointments, and rewarding meritorious service.
*Supervision of schools and civil examinations.
*Appointment of stewards in the houses of princes, as well as in the houses of kuge of the third rank and higher.
*Supervision of pensions and donations.
*Decisions relating to order of precedence at congratulatory occasions or festivals.Kawakami, Karl Kiyoshi. (1903). "The Political Ideas of Modern Japan", pp. 36-37.]

In the Edo period, titles related to the Shikibu-shō, such as "Shikibu-dayū", were largely ceremonial and could be held by non-kuge, such as daimyō lords. [see above] ]

References

* Kawakami, Karl Kiyoshi. (1903). "The Political Ideas of Modern Japan". Tokyo: Shokwabo.
* Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652] , "Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon, tr. par M. Isaac Titsingh avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M. J. Klaproth." Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. [http://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&dq=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran --Click for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)]
* Ury, Marian. (1999). "Chinese Learning and Intellectual Life," "The Cambridge history of Japan: Heian Japan". Vol. II. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10-ISBN 0-521-22353-9; 13-ISBN 978-0-521-22353-9 (cloth)

ee also

* Daijō-kan