Prefectural governor - Kenrei

Governor of prefectures from 1871 to 1886. After the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures in April 1871, 302 prefectures were consolidated into 72 prefectures in November of the same year, and local governors called kami or gon no kami were appointed in the Prefectural Governance Ordinance promulgated in the same month. Later, in 1877, the titles of prefectural governors were unified to prefectural governor and prefectural governor under the prefectural official system. Prefectural governors were ranked as either shoninkan or chokinkan, and the power of appointment and dismissal was held by the Dajokan. Many of the governors were former patriots from powerful domains, mainly Satsuma and Choshu, and as bureaucrats of the new government, they ruled over the people and forcibly carried out policies to transform the feudal system into a modern nation. As the highest-ranking officials, they controlled all administrative affairs within the prefecture, but all important administrative affairs required permission from the central ministries, and even matters that they were allowed to handle exclusively were subject to the obligation to report. However, in a situation where the legal system was underdeveloped, the communication and transportation network was inadequate, and regional differences remained, prefectural governors had more room to exercise their discretion than in later times.

[Mitsuko Oshima]

"Local Politics" by Mitsuko Oshima (included in "The Formation of the Modern Japanese Legal System, Vol. 1" edited by Masao Fukushima, 1981, Nippon Hyoronsha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1871年（明治4）から86年までの県の長官。71年4月の廃藩置県後302を数えた県は同年11月一挙に72県に統合され、同月公布の県治条例で令(かみ)または権令(ごんのかみ)と称される地方長官が任命された。その後77年の府県官職制で、府県長官の称は府知事、県令と統一された。県令は身分的に奏任官または勅任官とされ、任免権は太政官(だじょうかん)が握った。県令の多くは薩長(さっちょう)を中心とする雄藩の志士出身者で、新政府の官僚として人民に君臨し、封建体制から近代国家への脱皮を図る政策を強引に遂行した。最高責任者として県内の行政事務全般を掌握したが、重要行政はすべて中央各省の許可を必要とし、専任処置を許された事項も報告の義務を課せられた。しかし、法体系の未整備、通信交通網の不全、地域差の残存という状況下で県令の自由裁量の働く余地は後世に比べて強かった。86年の地方官官制により県令は県知事となった。

［大島美津子］

『大島美津子著「地方政治」（福島正夫編『日本近代法体制の形成　上巻』所収・1981・日本評論社）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例