The was a division of the eighth century Japanese

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 government of the Imperial Court in Kyoto

Imperial Court in Kyoto

thumb|left|350px|Front view of Kyoto imperial palaceImperial Court in Kyoto was the nominal ruling government of Japan from 794 AD until the Meiji Era, in which the court was moved to Tokyo and integrated into the Meiji government....

, instituted in the Asuka period

Asuka period

The , was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 , although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period...

 and formalized during the Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

. The Ministry was replaced in the Meiji period

Meiji period

The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

.

Overview

The needs of the Imperial Household has changed over time. The ambit of the Ministry's activities encompassed, for example:

• supervision and maintenance of rice fields for the supply to the imperial family
• oversight of the harvesting done on the Imperial domains
• orchestrating the presentation to the Emperor of rare delicacies as gifts from his subjects
• administration of the culinary and engineering departments of the court
• regulation of to breweries
• oversight of the court ladies
• oversight of court smiths
• management of court servants
• oversight of the Imperial wardrobe, etc.
• attending to the imperial princes and princesses of from the second to the fourth generation, inclusive

History

When this government agency was initially established in 645, it functioned as a tax collector on Imperial land. The organization and functions of the Imperial Household were refined and regulated in the Taiho Code

Taiho Code

The was an administrative reorganization enacted in 701 in Japan, at the end of the Asuka period. It was historically one of the . It was compiled at the direction of Prince Osakabe, Fujiwara no Fuhito and Awata no Mahito...

, which was promulgated in 701-702 during the reign of Emperor Monmu. The fundamental elements of this system evolved over the course of centuries, but the basic structures remained in place until the Meiji Restoration

Meiji Restoration

The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...

.

This Ministry came to be responsible for everything to do with supporting the Emperor and the Imperial family. Significant modifications were introduced in 1702, 1870, and 1889.

Hierarchy

The court developed a supporting bureaucracy which was exclusively focused on serving the needs of the Imperial Household . Among the ritsuryō officials within this ministry structure were:
, the surveyor of all works which are executed within the interior of the palace.., two persons., two persons, two persons, two positions, two positions, two positions, two positions, An expert who evaluates the price/cost of work to be done or already completed see Ōiryō (Bureau of the Palace Kitchen), two positions, two positions.. No male physician would be permitted to care for the health of the emperor's women.

The deliberate redundancies at the top are features of each position in this remarkably stable hierarchic schema. Many positions would mirror the -kyō, -taifu, -shō, -jō, and -sakan pattern.