Minister of the Interior

Japanese: 内大臣 - ないだいじん

(1) One of the non-officials. Also called Naifu. The first person to be appointed was Nakatomi Kamatari, who was given the surname Fujiwara in 669. He was ranked below the Minister of the Left and Right, and had the same authority and treatment as the Minister of the Left and Right. It was discontinued for a time, but was revived at the end of the Nara period and continued until the Meiji period, but there were periods when the position was not appointed. (2) One of the Imperial Household Officials established in 1885 when the Cabinet system was launched to strictly distinguish between the Imperial Court and the Ministry of the Left. Naifu, which is synonymous with Naidaijin, is also used as an abbreviation for the Office of the Minister of the Left and Right. The Minister of the Left was responsible for the custody of the Imperial Seal and the State Seal, and was in charge of affairs related to imperial edicts and other documents of the Imperial Court. He was always in the company of the Emperor and acted as his advisor. Originally, the Inner Palace Minister was not responsible for advising the Emperor on matters related to the Imperial Household or general affairs of state, as the Imperial Household Minister and other Ministers of State were, but when the Inner Palace Minister was absent or when those responsible for advising were absent, such as during the period when the Cabinet resigned en masse and a new Cabinet was formed, the Inner Palace Minister's duties were to serve the Emperor and offer his opinion and support. Therefore, in times of political upheaval, the Inner Palace Minister's duties should have been to answer questions from the Emperor about the leader of the succeeding Cabinet, but in reality, he did not answer questions on his own initiative, but rather asked the Genro to ask questions. However, in the later years of the Genro Saionji Kinmochi, the Inner Palace Minister's opinion was considered important when recommending the leader of the succeeding Cabinet, and after the start of the Pacific War, the Inner Palace Minister played an extremely important political role. He was abolished in November 1945.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

(1) 令外官の一つ。内府ともいう。天智8 (669) 年藤原姓を賜わった中臣鎌足が任じられたのが最初で，左右大臣の下に位し，権限，待遇は左右大臣に準じた。その後いったん中絶し，奈良時代末期に復活，明治にいたったが，任命されない時期もあった。 (2) 1885年内閣制度発足に際し，宮中，府中の区別を厳にするために設けられた宮内官の一つ。内大臣と同義である内府は内大臣府の略称としても用いられる。内大臣は御璽，国璽を保管し，詔勅，その他宮中の諸文書に関する事務を管掌し，天皇の側近に常に侍して輔弼の任にあたった。元来，内大臣は宮内大臣や他の国務大臣のように皇室事務や一般国務について輔弼の責に任じるものではないが，宮内大臣が欠けていたり，内閣が総辞職して新内閣の発足するまでの期間のように輔弼の責にあるものが欠けている場合は天皇に奉仕し，意見を述べ補佐する任にあった。したがって，政変に際しては後継内閣の首班について天皇の下問に奉答するのが内大臣の職務のはずであったが，実際には内大臣の責任において奉答せず，元老に下問されるように奉答するのが常であった。しかし元老西園寺公望の晩年には後継内閣の首班奏薦について内大臣の意見が重要視され，太平洋戦争に突入してからは，政治的にきわめて重要な役割を果した。 1945年 11月廃官。

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