Ministry of Civil Affairs

A central government office that began with the Taiho Code. One of the eight ministries that belonged to the Daijokan, it was in charge of both the Bureau of Accounts and the Bureau of Taxation. Its predecessor was called the Minkan. It was a key government office in the national government of the Ritsuryo state, overseeing civil administration in general, especially tax collection and the management of the central finances. It had jurisdiction over the nation's household registers, tax and labor audits, household members, private slaves, roads and bridges, land and sea affairs, mountains and rivers, and rice fields. It had one each of Kami, Daisuke, Shoyu, and Daijo, two Shojo, one Daisakan, three Shoro, ten Shisho, two Shosho, and 60 Shibu. During the Nara period, powerful aristocrats such as Awata no Mahito and Fujiwara no Nakamaro were appointed as ministers, but as the Ritsuryo finance system declined and the Shoen system developed, the ministry's status gradually declined. During the Nakamaro administration in the mid-Nara period, the ministry was temporarily renamed the Ninbu Ministry. In 1869 (Meiji 2), it was revived as a civil government agency, but two years later it was merged into the Ministry of Finance and Public Works.

[Mitsuru Yagi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

大宝令(たいほうりょう)制に始まる中央官司。太政官(だいじょうかん)に所属する八省の一つで、主計・主税両寮を管した。前身官司を民官とよぶ。民政一般を総括し、とくに租税収取と中央財政の運営にあたる律令国家の国政の要枢官庁。全国の戸籍、租庸調(そようちょう)、家人(けにん)、私奴婢(しぬひ)、道橋、津済(しんさい)、山川、田などを管轄した。卿(かみ)・大輔(だいすけ)・少輔・大丞(だいじょう)各1人、少丞2人、大録(だいさかん)1人、少録3人、史生(ししょう)10人、省掌(しょうしょう)2人、使部(しぶ)60人であった。卿には、奈良時代、粟田真人(あわたのまひと)、藤原仲麻呂(なかまろ)などの有力貴族を任じたが、律令財政が衰退し、荘園(しょうえん)制が発達するに伴い、その地位はしだいに低下した。奈良中期の仲麻呂政権下、一時仁部(にんぶ)省と改称。1869年（明治2）民政官庁として復活したが、2年後、大蔵・工部省に統合された。

［八木　充］

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