Tairō (, "great elder") was a high-ranking official position in the Tokugawa shogunate government of Japan, roughly comparable to the office of prime minister. The tairō presided over the governing rōjū council in the event of an emergency. A tairō was nominated from among the fudai daimyōs, who worked closely with the Tokugawa traditionally. Generally, the office holder was the shogunate's chief policymaker, and provided Japan with a capable temporary leader in the absence of a shōgun, or in the event that the shōgun was incapacitated.
List of tairō
Name From To Shogun Sakai TadayoSansom, George. (1963). March 12, 1636 March 19, 1636 Tokugawa Iemitsu Doi Toshikatsu November 7, 1638 July 10, 1644 Tokugawa Iemitsu Sakai Tadakatsu November 7, 1638 May 26, 1656 Tokugawa IemitsuTokugawa Ietsuna Sakai TadakiyoSansom, March 29, 1666 December 9, 1680 Tokugawa Ietsuna Ii Naozumi November 19, 1668 January 3, 1676 Tokugawa Ietsuna Hotta MasatoshiSansom, November 12, 1681 August 28, 1684 Tokugawa Tsunayoshi Ii Naooki June 13, 1696 March 2, 1700 Tokugawa Tsunayoshi Yanagisawa YoshiyasuSansom, January 11, 1706 June 3, 1709 Tokugawa Tsunayoshi Ii Naooki February 13, 1711 February 23, 1714 Tokugawa IenobuTokugawa Ietsugu Ii Naoyuki November 28, 1784 September 1, 1787 Tokugawa IeharuTokugawa Ienari Ii Naoaki December 28, 1835 May 13, 1841 Tokugawa IenariTokugawa Ieyoshi Ii NaosukeCullen, Louis. (2003). A History of Japan, 1582–1941, p. 180–186. April 23, 1858 March 24, 1860 Tokugawa IesadaTokugawa Iemochi Sakai Tadashige February 1, 1865 November 12, 1865 Tokugawa Iemochi
See also The Five Tairō
Notes
References Cullen, Louis M. (2003). A History of Japan, 1582-1941: Internal and External Worlds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ; ; OCLC 442929163 Sansom, George Bailey. (1963). A History of Japan: 1615-1867. Stanford: Stanford University Press. OCLC 36820228