Kokushi

Kokushi or Kuni no tsukasa ( Sino-Japanese or Japanese reading of Japanese 国司 ) referred to the highest officials who formed the civil government of the individual provinces of Japan ( kuni ) in early Japan during the Ritsuryō administrative system . Often only the highest official (provincial governor) is referred to with this term. From 14./15. In the 18th century, the post was no longer associated with actual power, but it was still awarded as an award.

history

The Kokushi emerged in the course of the Taika reforms and replaced the earlier Kuni no miyatsuko and Agatanushi . An early name was Kuni no mikotomochi ( 国宰 ). Your official seat was the Kokuchō in the provincial administration ( Kokuga ).

Since the appointment to Kokushi was accompanied by a corresponding salary, an appointment was also made as a reward to officials of the imperial court who remained at the court after their appointment. Such an office was called Yōnin ( 遥任 , "distant office") or Yōju ( 遥授 , "distant permit") and the incumbents sent in their place a Mokudai ( 目代 , "eye substitute") as a deputy.

In order to prevent personal enrichment, the imperial court originally requested detailed reports, particularly on tax revenues, which were compared with all interim reports, as well as inspections. Shortfalls either had to be paid out of personal assets or resulted in a career freeze or end. Since this required a complex administration, a new system was introduced in 731 in which a successor in office had to audit his predecessor and the predecessor could only take up his next post after receiving ( 受領 , zuryō ) a replacement letter ( 解由状 , geyujō ) from the successor, while in return the successor could be prosecuted personally for undetected misconduct. In the course of time, Zuryō then designated the official who held the highest authority on site, i.e. H. the effective instead of the nominal provincial governor.

In the Muromachi Shogunate , which began in 1336, and the further weakening of the imperial court, the military post of Shugo , from which the daimyo later emerged, received more and more powers of the Kokushi. The provinces were eventually ruled by these military governors. From this point on, the Kokushi offices were only of a ceremonial nature or purely titular offices without a function and it was therefore common for the Kokushi no longer to stay in their respective province.

The Kokushi were abolished with the restoration of imperial rule and modernization of the country in the Meiji Restoration at the end of the 19th century.

Ranks

The Ritsuryō system provided for a four-tier system of officials ( Shitōkan ):

Kami ( 守 ) denotes the head of office, who has the function of provincial governor,

Suke ( 介 ) as Provincial Vice Governor ,

Jō ( 掾 ) as provincial secretary and

Sakan ( 目 ) is conceived as a province .

The classification of the province as a major province ( taikoku ), upper province ( jōkoku ), central province ( chūgoku ) or sub-province ( gekoku ) depended on how many people the respective post was assigned and what court rank the incumbent had to have:

	Greater Province	Upper Province	Central Province	Sub-province
governor	The following upper 5.	The following lower 5.	Real lower 6.	The following lower 6.
Deputy Governor	Real lower 6.	The following upper 6.	none	none
secretary	Upper Secretary ( 大掾 , Daijō ): Real lower 7th Undersecretary ( 少掾 , Shōjō ): The following upper 7th.	The following upper 7.	Real Upper 8	none
Draftsman	Senior Constructor ( 大目 , Daisakan ): Following Upper 8th Sub- Designer ( 少目 , Shōsakan ): Following Lower 8th	The following lower 8.	Real lower 9.	The following upper 9.

Individual evidence

↑ 国司 . In: 世界大百科事典第２版 at kotobank.jp. Retrieved June 11, 2016 (Japanese).
↑ Cornelius J. Kiley: Provincial administration and land tenure in Heian Japan . In: Donald H. Shively, William H. McCullough (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Japan . Volume 2: Heian Japan. Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-521-22353-9 , pp. 271 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
↑ 遥任 . In: 百科事典マイペディア at kotobank.jp. Retrieved February 5, 2012 (Japanese).
↑ Cornelius J. Kiley: Provincial administration and land tenure in Heian Japan . In: Donald H. Shively, William H. McCullough (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Japan . Volume 2: Heian Japan. Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-521-22353-9 , pp. 264–265 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
↑ 受領 . In: 百科事典マイペディア at kotobank.jp. Retrieved February 5, 2012 (Japanese).
↑ 国司 . In: 日本大百科全書 at kotobank.jp. Retrieved January 3, 2015 (Japanese).
^ Hans A. Dettmer : The Yōrō Codex . The commandments. Introduction and translation of the Ryō no gige . Book 1. Harrasowitz, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-447-05940-4 , p. 147–148 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
↑ Cornelius J. Kiley: Provincial administration and land tenure in Heian Japan . In: Donald H. Shively, William H. McCullough (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Japan . Volume 2: Heian Japan. Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-521-22353-9 , pp. 256 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).

[1] 国司 . In: 世界大百科事典第２版 at kotobank.jp. Retrieved June 11, 2016 (Japanese).

[2] Cornelius J. Kiley: Provincial administration and land tenure in Heian Japan . In: Donald H. Shively, William H. McCullough (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Japan . Volume 2: Heian Japan. Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-521-22353-9 , pp. 271 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[3] 遥任 . In: 百科事典マイペディア at kotobank.jp. Retrieved February 5, 2012 (Japanese).

[4] Cornelius J. Kiley: Provincial administration and land tenure in Heian Japan . In: Donald H. Shively, William H. McCullough (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Japan . Volume 2: Heian Japan. Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-521-22353-9 , pp. 264–265 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[5] 受領 . In: 百科事典マイペディア at kotobank.jp. Retrieved February 5, 2012 (Japanese).

[6] 国司 . In: 日本大百科全書 at kotobank.jp. Retrieved January 3, 2015 (Japanese).

[7] Hans A. Dettmer : The Yōrō Codex . The commandments. Introduction and translation of the Ryō no gige . Book 1. Harrasowitz, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-447-05940-4 , p. 147–148 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[8] Cornelius J. Kiley: Provincial administration and land tenure in Heian Japan . In: Donald H. Shively, William H. McCullough (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Japan . Volume 2: Heian Japan. Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-521-22353-9 , pp. 256 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).