The court ranks of Japan, also known in Japanese as ikai (位階), are indications of an individual's court rank in Japan based on the system of the state. Ikai as a system was the indication of the rank of bureaucrats and officials in countries that inherited (class system).
Currently, the Japanese court ranks and titles are among the types of honours conferred to those who have held government posts for a long time and to those who have made distinguished achievements. In recent times, most appointments, if not all, are offered posthumously. A notable recipient of such a court rank is the late former prime minister Shinzo Abe, who received Junior First Rank (従一位, ju ichi-i) on 8 July 2022.
Court ranks
The national system for ranking politicians and officials who served the Japanese dynasty began in 603 when Empress Suiko enacted the Twelve Level Cap and Rank System. Each rank was identified by the color of a crown the person with the rank wore. There were twelve ranks: , , , , , , , , , , , and , from top to bottom.
The ranking system underwent several amendments and was developed by the Taiho Code enacted in 701. Under this system, ranks were established for the Imperial family members and vassals like the following:
Ranks for Imperial family members
An Emperor was not ranked.
Princes, princesses, and other Imperial family members were ranked depending on the extent of their contribution to the nation or other factors as follows: English translation Japanese text Romanized Japanese NotesFirst Rank一品ip-ponSecond Rank二品ni-honThird Rank三品san-bonFourth Rank四品shi-hon
Ranks for subjects Under the Taiho Code, politicians and officials other than Imperial family members were graded according to the following ranking system.
First to Third Ranks
Each of the First to Third Ranks is divided into and . The is the highest in the rank system. It is conferred mainly on a very limited number of persons recognized by the Imperial Court as most loyal to the nation during that era.
The is the second highest rank, conferred in many cases on the highest ministers, premier feudal lords, and their wives.
Nobles with the Third Rank or upper were called kugyō.
Successive Tokugawa shoguns held the highest or near-highest court ranks, higher than most court nobles. They were made of court rank upon assuming office, then , and the highest rank of was conferred upon them upon their death. The Tokugawa shogunate established that the court ranks granted to daimyo by the imperial court were based on the recommendation of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the court ranks were used to control the daimyo.
Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were 「麒麟がくる」コラム】織田信長はどんどん昇進。信長は官職についてどう考えていたのか. Yahoo News. 6 January 2021 and NHK大河ドラマではスルーされた…豊臣秀吉が難敵･徳川家康を自分の配下にするために行った｢特別な提案｣. President Online. 17 September 2023 respectively, but both were elevated to in the Taisho era, about 300 years after their deaths.
English translation Japanese text Romanized Japanese Selected recipientsSenior First Rank正一位shō ichi-iFujiwara no Fuhito , Sugawara no Michizane , Tokugawa Ieyasu , Lady Saigō , Tokugawa Hidetada , Tokugawa Iemitsu Junior First Rank従一位ju ichi-iIsonokami no Maro , Taira no Kiyomori , Ashikaga Takauji , Ōmandokoro , Nene , Maeda Toshiie , Oeyo , (wife of shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi) , (mother of shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi) , Iso no Miya Tomoko (wife of shōgun Tokugawa Ieharu , Shimazu no Shigehime (wife of Tokugawa Ienari) Senior Second Rank正二位shō ni-iMinamoto no Yoritomo , Toyotomi Hideyori , Konoe Tadahiro Junior Second Rank従二位ju ni-iTaira no Tokiko , Hōjō Masako , Toyotomi Hidenaga , Tokugawa Muneharu , Lady Kasuga Senior Third Rank正三位shō san-miFujiwara no Matate , Takano no Niigasa , Kitabatake Tomonori Junior Third Rank従三位ju san-miAsa no Miya Akiko , Tenshō-in
Fourth Rank The Fourth Rank is divided into Senior and Junior, and each is subdivided into and Grades. The is the highest Fourth Rank and the the lowest.
English translation Japanese text Romanized Japanese NotesSenior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade正四位上shō shi-i no jōSenior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade正四位下shō shi-i no ge Matsunaga Hisahide (1561)Junior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade従四位上ju shi-i no jōJunior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade従四位下ju shi-i no ge Taira no Tadamori
Fifth Rank The Fifth Rank is divided into Senior and Junior, and each is subdivided into Upper and Lower Grades. The is the highest Fifth Rank and the the lowest.
English translation Japanese text Romanized Japanese NotesSenior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade正五位上shō go-i no jōSenior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade正五位下shō go-i no geKusunoki MasashigeJunior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade従五位上ju go-i no jōSanada Nobuyuki , Yamakawa Futaba, Sakamoto TenzanJunior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade従五位下ju go-i no geHojo Ujinao , Hayashi Narinaga
Sixth Rank The Sixth Rank is divided into Senior and Junior, and each is subdivided into Upper and Lower Grades. The is the highest Sixth Rank and the the lowest.
English translation Japanese text Romanized Japanese NotesSenior Sixth Rank, Upper Grade正六位上shō roku-i no jōSenior Sixth Rank, Lower Grade正六位下shō roku-i no geJunior Sixth Rank, Upper Grade従六位上ju roku-i no jōJunior Sixth Rank, Lower Grade従六位下ju roku-i no ge
Seventh Rank The Seventh Rank is divided into Senior and Junior, and each is subdivided into Upper and Lower Grades. The is the highest Seventh Rank and the the lowest.
English translation Japanese text Romanized Japanese NotesSenior Seventh Rank, Upper Grade正七位上shō shichi-i no jōSenior Seventh Rank, Lower Grade正七位下shō shichi-i no geJunior Seventh Rank, Upper Grade従七位上ju shichi-i no jōJunior Seventh Rank, Lower Grade従七位下ju shichi-i no ge
Eighth Rank The Eighth Rank is divided into Senior and Junior, subdivided into Upper and Lower Grades. The , is the highest, and the , is the lowest.
English translation Japanese text Romanized Japanese NotesSenior Eighth Rank, Upper Grade正八位上shō hachi-i no jōSenior Eighth Rank, Lower Grade正八位下shō hachi-i no geJunior Eighth Rank, Upper Grade従八位上ju hachi-i no jōJunior Eighth Rank, Lower Grade従八位下ju hachi-i no ge
Initial Rank The is divided into and , and each is subdivided into Upper and Lower Grades. The is the highest Initial Rank, and the the lowest.
English translation Japanese text Romanized Japanese NotesGreater Initial Rank, Upper Grade大初位上dai sho-i no jōGreater Initial Rank, Lower Grade大初位下dai sho-i no geLesser Initial Rank, Upper Grade少初位上shō sho-i no jōLesser Initial Rank, Lower Grade少初位下shō sho-i no ge
Ranking system after the Meiji Restoration
The 1887 Ordinance on Ordination reorganized the ranking system. It abolished the Initial Ranks and the Grades of Upper and Lower of Fourth and lower Ranks. The relationships between ikai and court positions were also abolished. There were then a total of 16 ranks, ranging from the to the , as shown below:
English translation Japanese text Romanized Japanese Selected recipientsSenior First Rank正一位shō ichi-iKusunoki Masashige , Nitta Yoshisada , Iwakura Tomomi , Sanjō Sanetomi , Tokugawa Mitsukuni , Shimazu Nariakira , Mori Takachika , Tokugawa Nariaki , Konoe Tadahiro , Toyotomi Hideyoshi , Oda Nobunaga Junior First Rank従一位ju ichi-iShimazu Hisamitsu , Tokugawa Yoshinobu , Kido Takayoshi , Ōkubo Toshimichi , Itō Hirobumi , Itagaki Taisuke , Ōkuma Shigenobu , Yamagata Aritomo , Matsukata Masayoshi , Tōgō Heihachirō , Tokugawa Iesato , Saionji Kinmochi , Makino Nobuaki , Kantarō Suzuki , Shigeru Yoshida , Eisaku Satō , Yasuhiro Nakasone , Shinzo Abe Senior Second Rank正二位shō ni-iTokugawa Yoshiyori , Mori Arinori , Mutsu Munemitsu , Katsu Kaishū , Saisho Atsushi , Nogi Maresuke , Hara Takashi , Katō Tomosaburō , Tanaka Giichi , Shibusawa Eiichi , Inukai Tsuyoshi , Ichirō Hatoyama , Hayato Ikeda , Masayoshi Ōhira , Nobusuke Kishi , Takeo Miki , Ryutaro Hashimoto Junior Second Rank従二位ju ni-iUesugi Kenshin , Date Masamune , Mori Ōgai , Osami Nagano , Tanzan Ishibashi , Fumio Gotō , Hideki Yukawa , Toshiwo Doko , Sōsuke Uno Senior Third Rank正三位shō san-miSaigō Takamori , Kobayakawa Takakage , Kenkichi Yabashi , Yamamoto Isoroku , Mineichi Koga , Yasunari Kawabata , Kōnosuke Matsushita , Soichiro Honda , Masaru Ibuka , Akio Morita , Tsuneo Watanabe Junior Third Rank従三位ju san-miKatō Kiyomasa , Kyōsuke Kindaichi , Akira Kurosawa , Hisaya Morishige , Isuzu Yamada , Ken Takakura , Donald Keene , Sadako Ogata , Shigeo Nagashima , Tatsuya Nakadai Senior Fourth Rank正四位shō shi-iJunior Fourth Rank従四位ju shi-iSenior Fifth Rank正五位shō go-iJunior Fifth Rank従五位ju go-iKoo Hsien-jung (1937)Senior Sixth Rank正六位shō roku-iKōrō Sasaki (1978)Junior Sixth Rank従六位ju roku-iSenior Seventh Rank正七位shō shichi-iJunior Seventh Rank従七位ju shichi-iSenior Eighth Rank正八位shō hachi-iJunior Eighth Rank従八位ju hachi-i
Sanjo Sanetomi was the last living person who received the in 1891, and all subsequent recipients were posthumously received. No persons have been awarded this rank since 1917 when Oda Nobunaga was posthumously awarded.
The 1925 restricted ordination exclusively to the purpose of conferring honors. Since the current Constitution came into effect in 1947, the presentation of ranks has been limited to those who have already died, with the idea of abolishing the privileges associated with conferring honors, and ranks having been presented posthumously.
Today, the is the highest available rank, which is posthumously conferred primarily on persons deemed being served most to the nation out of former prime ministers. The is conferred on many former prime ministers, and the on top-class politicians, such as former speakers of the National Diet and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The is posthumously conferred mainly on civilians who are recognized as having done the most for the nation's development, such as founders of large companies and the novelists and artists who represented Japan. The is in many cases conferred on artists who created Japan's famous masterpieces.
The Junior First Rank is bestowed directly by the incumbent Emperor. The Second through Fourth Ranks are awarded by Imperial decree. The awarding of the Fifth Ranks or lower is decided by a hearing from the Cabinet and a decision by the Emperor to the hearing.
Court positions
In the era when the Ritsuryo system was in place, the official position in the court and ikai of bureaucrats were closely related. For example, becoming the , the highest position in the administration, required the . To become the , he had to be in either the or the . A needed the , and a needed the . required the .プレミアムカラー国語便覧: , pp. 56–57, 2017 (Suken Shuppan)
—the highest position in the Council of State. This position was used only when it was necessary to place someone in a position above the Minister of the Left. —the highest permanent position in the Council of State. —the second highest position next to the Minister of the Left. —the third highest position next to the Minister of the Right. —the fourth highest position in the Council of State. The maximum number of this position was originally four and was reduced to two in 705. —when all Senior Counselors were occupied, and a new person was appointed to the Senior Counselor, he was placed in this position. —a newly created position to assist Senior Counselors. The maximum number of this position was three. —personnel to participate in political discussions, not Senior or Middle Counselors. —controls the Ministers of the center, Civil Service, Ceremonies, and Popular Affairs. —controls the Ministers of War, Justice, the Treasury, and the Imperial Household. —the top working-level position in the Council of State. The maximum number of this position was three. Controllers needed the Junior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade. Junior Counselors required the Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade.
—the highest position in the . —the highest position in the . —the highest position in the . —the highest position in the . —the highest position in the . —the highest position in the .