Ministry of Finance - Ookurasho

A national administrative agency with jurisdiction over finances, banking, etc. The Ministry has a long history, having been established in July 1869 (Meiji 2) as a ministry under the Dajokan (Grand Council of State) of the new Meiji government. After World War II, the Ministry of Finance was established by the Ministry of Finance Establishment Act based on the National Government Organization Act, which was promulgated in July 1948 (Showa 23). With the reorganization of central government ministries and agencies in January 2001 (Heisei 13), the name of the Ministry was changed to the Ministry of Finance, which took over all responsibilities except for financial administration.

The Ministry of Finance was responsible for the nation's finances, currency, finance, foreign exchange, securities trading, minting, and printing. To carry out these functions in an integrated manner, it was made up of the Minister's Secretariat, seven bureaus (Budget Bureau, Tax Bureau, Customs, Financial Bureau, Securities, Banking, and International Finance), 14 councils, four facilities and other organizations, as well as special agencies such as the Mint and Printing Bureau, and regional branch offices of the Finance Bureau and Customs, with the National Tax Agency established as an external bureau.

The Ministry of Finance was the ministry in charge of the most important administrative affairs of the country, namely finance and banking. First of all, when it comes to finance, the most important administrative authority of the Ministry of Finance was the preparation of the budget. The budget (especially the expenditure budget) is an estimated plan or guideline for the cash receipts and expenditures of the country, which is related to the allocation of expenses and means for various administrative activities of the country, and is an important matter that determines the level of people's lives and industrial and economic activities, so the Constitution imposes the obligation to prepare and submit the budget to the Diet on the Cabinet. However, the budget (draft) submitted to the Diet by the Cabinet is actually prepared by the Minister of Finance (Article 21 of the Financial Law), and the task of preparing this budget was in fact handled by the Budget Bureau of the Ministry of Finance. One of the important administrative authorities of the Ministry of Finance related to budget preparation is the compilation of the Fiscal Investment and Loan Program, known as the second budget, and this is handled by the Financial Bureau. Furthermore, with regard to the budget, it was the Tax Bureau that estimated tax revenue, which forms the core of the revenue budget, while the National Tax Agency, an external bureau, was responsible for the actual tax collection work, and the Financial Bureau was in charge of the issuance of government bonds, which was a problem.

On the other hand, with regard to finance, the Banking Bureau supervised the Bank of Japan while investigating, planning and drafting the financial system and supervising various banks, the Securities Bureau supervised the securities industry, and the International Finance Bureau adjusted the balance of payments and determined and maintained foreign exchange rates. However, a series of financial institution failures called for the separation of finance and finance, and the Ministry of Finance transferred the investigation and supervision functions of financial institutions that it had previously assumed to the Financial Supervisory Agency, which was established in June 1998 as an external bureau of the Financial Reconstruction Commission (the agency was transformed into the Financial Services Agency in July 2000, and the Financial Reconstruction Commission was abolished in January 2001, and the Financial Services Agency became an external bureau of the Cabinet Office).

Nevertheless, the Ministry of Finance, as the ministry in charge of finance and banking among the national administrative organs, had the authority to coordinate and decide (draw up the budget) the interests of other ministries and agencies, and had great authority to determine the quality and quantity of administration related to people's lives and industrial and economic activities. On the other hand, it was forced into rigid fiscal management in the midst of a fiscal crisis marked by the issuance of a huge amount of deficit bonds, and it faced the difficult problem of cutting back on the quality and quantity of people's lives.

The Ministry of Finance once held great authority, but as a result of the reorganization of central government ministries and agencies, as mentioned above, the core duties of financial administration were transferred to the Financial Services Agency, and part of the budget duties were transferred to the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy established within the Cabinet Office, and it became the ministry (the Ministry of Finance) that was primarily responsible for national finances.

[Toshiro Fuka and Kengo Yamada]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

財政、金融などを所管とする国の行政機関。同省の歴史は古く、明治新政府の太政官(だじょうかん)所属の一省として1869年（明治2）7月に創設された。第二次世界大戦後の大蔵省は、1948年（昭和23）7月に公布された国家行政組織法に基づく大蔵省設置法によって設置された。2001年（平成13）1月の中央省庁再編に伴い、金融行政を除く所掌事務を引き継いだ財務省に省名を変更した。

　大蔵省の所掌事務は、国の財政、通貨、金融、外国為替(かわせ)、証券取引、造幣事業、印刷事業であり、これらを一体的に遂行するために、大臣官房と七つの局（主計、主税、関税、理財、証券、銀行、国際金融）、14の審議会、四つの施設等機関および造幣局、印刷局の特別機関、財務局と税関の地方支分部局からなり、外局として国税庁が置かれていた。

　大蔵省といえば、なによりも財政・金融という国のもっとも重要な行政を担当する省であった。まず、財政についていえば、そのなかでももっとも重要な大蔵省の行政権限は予算の作成であった。予算（とりわけ歳出予算）は、国のさまざまな行政活動の経費や手段の配分にかかわる国の現金の収支に関する見積り計画ないし準則であり、国民生活や産業・経済活動の水準を決定する重要な事項であるため、これを作成して国会に提出する義務を、憲法は内閣に課している。しかし、内閣によって国会に提出される予算（案）は、実際には大蔵大臣が作成することになっており（財政法21条）、事実上この予算を作成する事務は大蔵省主計局が担当していた。予算作成に関係する大蔵省の行政権限として重要なものに、第二の予算とよばれている財政投融資計画の取りまとめがあって、これを担当するのは理財局であった。さらに、予算に関連して、歳入予算の中心をなす租税収入を見積もるのは主税局であり、実際に徴税事務を担当するのは外局である国税庁で、問題化している国債の発行事務は理財局が担当していた。

　他方、金融についてみると、日本銀行を監督しつつ、金融制度を調査、企画および立案し、かつ各種の銀行を監督するのは銀行局であり、証券業等を監督するのは証券局であり、国際収支の調整を図り、外国為替相場を決定し維持するのは国際金融局であった。しかし、金融機関の破綻(はたん)が相次ぎ、財政と金融との分離が求められることとなり、金融再生委員会の外局として、1998年6月に発足した金融監督庁（同庁は、2000年7月に金融庁に移行し、2001年1月には、金融再生委員会は廃止され、金融庁は、内閣府の外局となった）に、大蔵省がこれまで担ってきた金融機関の調査・監督機能を委譲した。

　それでも、大蔵省は国の行政機関のなかで、財政・金融を担当する省として、他省庁の利害の調整・決定権限（予算作成）をもち、国民生活や産業・経済活動にかかわる行政の質と量を決定する大きな権限をもっていた。その反面、膨大な量の赤字国債の発行にみられる財政危機の下で硬直化した財政運営を強いられ、それが国民生活の質や量を切り下げてゆくという難問に直面していた。

　大きな権限をもっていた大蔵省であったが、中央省庁再編により、前述したように金融行政の中心的な業務を金融庁に、また予算の業務の一部を内閣府に設置された経済財政諮問会議に移し、国家の財政を中心につかさどる省（財務省）となった。

［福家俊朗・山田健吾］

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