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Sessho and Kampaku



In Japan, the Sesshō (摂") was a title given to a regent who was named to assist an emperor when the emperor was still a child, before the coming of age, or female. The Kampaku (関白 Kanpaku) was theoretically a sort of chief advisor for the emperor, but was the title of a regent who assists an adult emperor. During the Heian era, they were the effective rulers of Japan. There was little, if any, effective difference between the two titles, and several individuals merely changed titles as child emperors grew to adulthood, or adult emperors retired or died and were replaced by child emperors. The two were collectively known as Sekkan (摂関).

Overview

The Sesshō and Kampaku had held the practical powers of the ruling emperor, until shogunates took over the power from them. Most empresses had Sesshō with some exceptions in the ancient period.

In earlier times only members of the imperial family could be appointed to Sessho. Kojiki reported that Emperor Ōjin was assisted by his mother the empress consort Jingū, but it is doubtful if it is a historical fact. The first historical Sessho was Prince Shōtoku who assisted Empress Suiko.

The Fujiwara clan was the primary holders of the Kampaku and Sesshō titles. More precisely those title was held by the Fujiwara Hokke (Fujiwara north family) and its descendants, to which Fujiwara no Yoshifusa belonged. In 844 Fujiwara no Yoshifusa became Sesshō. He was the first Sesshō who didn't belong to the imperial house. In 876 Fujiwara no Mototsune, the nephew and adopted son of Yoshifusa, was appointed to the newly created office Kampaku. After Fujiwara no Michinaga and Fujiwara no Yorimichi, their descendants held those two office exclusively In 12th century there were five families among the descendants of Yorimichi called Sekke. Until 1868 those five families held those title exclusively with two exceptions of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and his nephew Toyotomi Hidetsugu.

Sekke consisted in five families: Konoe family, Kujō family, Ichijō family, Takatsukasa family and Nijō family. Both Konoe clan and Kujō clan were derived from Fujiwara no Tadamichi, a descendant of Yorimichi. Other three families were derived from one of those two families.

A retired kampaku is called Taikō (太閤), which commonly came to refer to Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

The office and title of kampaku fell out of use by convention with the appointment of the first Prime Minister of Japan during the Meiji Restoration. Emperor Meiji abolished the office in 1872.

List

Sesshō and Kampaku of the Heian Era

SesshōKampakuReignEmperor
Fujiwara no Yoshifusa858 – 872Emperor Seiwa
Fujiwara no Mototsune872 – 880Seiwa, Emperor Yōzei
Fujiwara no Mototsune880 – 890Emperor Yōzei, Emperor Kōkō, Emperor Uda
Fujiwara no Tadahira930 – 941Emperor Suzaku
Fujiwara no Tadahira941 – 949Emperor Suzaku, Emperor Murakami
Fujiwara no Saneyori967 – 969Emperor Reizei
Fujiwara no Saneyori969 – 970Emperor En'yū
Fujiwara no Koretada970 – 972Emperor En'yū
Fujiwara no Kanemichi?972 – 977Emperor En'yū
Fujiwara no Yoritada977 – 986Emperor En'yū, Emperor Kazan
Fujiwara no Kaneie986 – 990Emperor Ichijō
Fujiwara no KaneieMay 5 (lunar calendar), 990 – May 8, 990Emperor Ichijō
Fujiwara no MichitakaMay 8, 990 – May 26, 990Emperor Ichijō
Fujiwara no Michitaka990 – 983Emperor Ichijō
Fujiwara no Michitaka983 – 995Emperor Ichijō
Fujiwara no MichikaneApril 28, 995 – May 8, 995Emperor Ichijō
Fujiwara no Michinaga1016 – 1017Emperor Go-Ichijō
Fujiwara no Yorimichi1017 – 1019Emperor Go-Ichijō
Fujiwara no Yorimichi1019 – 1067Emperor Go-Ichijō, Emperor Go-Reizei
Fujiwara no Norimichi1068 – 1075Emperor Go-Sanjō, Emperor Shirakawa
Fujiwara no Morozane1075 – 1086 Emperor Shirakawa
Fujiwara no Morozane1086 – 1090Emperor Horikawa
Fujiwara no Morozane1090 – 1094Emperor Horikawa
Fujiwara no Moromichi1094 – 1099Emperor Horikawa
Fujiwara no Tadazane1105 – 1107Emperor Horikawa
Fujiwara no Tadazane1107 – 1113Emperor Toba
Fujiwara no Tadazane1113 – 1121Emperor Toba
Fujiwara no Tadamichi1121 – 1123Emperor Toba
Fujiwara no Tadamichi1123 – 1129Emperor Sutoku
Fujiwara no Tadamichi1129 – 1141Emperor Sutoku
Fujiwara no Tadamichi1141 – 1150Emperor Konoe
Fujiwara no Tadamichi1150 – 1158Emperor Konoe, Emperor Go-Shirakawa
Konoe Motomi?1158 – 1165Emperor Nijō
Konoe Motomi1165 – 1166Emperor Rokujō
Fujiwara no Motofusa1166 – 1172Emperor Rokujō, Emperor Takakura
Fujiwara no Motofusa1172 – 1179Emperor Takakura
Konoe Motomichi1179 – 1180Emperor Takakura
Konoe Motomichi1180 – 1183Emperor Antoku
Matsudono Shika1183 – 1184Emperor Antoku
Konoe Motomichi1184 – 1186Emperor Antoku, Emperor Go-Toba
Kujō Kanezane1186 – 1191Emperor Go-Toba
Kujō Kanezane1191 – 1196Emperor Go-Toba

Famous Sesshō and Kampaku of the Kamakura period

*Kujō Yoshitsune (Sesshō 1202 – 1206 for Emperor Tsuchimikado)
*Kujō Michiie (Sesshō 1221 for Emperor Chūkyō, Kampaku, 1228 – 1231, 1235 – 1237 for Emperor Shijō)
*Nijō Yoshimi? (Kampaku 1242 – 1246 for Emperor Go-Saga, 1261 – 1265 for Emperor Kameyama)
*Ichjō Sanetsune (Sesshō 1246 – 1247 for Emperor Go-Fukakusa, Kampaku 1265 – 1267 for Emperor Kameyama)

Famous Sesshō and Kampaku of the Muromachi period

*Nijō Yoshimoto (Kampaku 1346 – 1358, 1363 – 1367, Sesshō, 1382 – 1387, 1388)
*Ichijō Tsunetsugu (Kampaku 1399 – 1408 for Emperor Go-Komatsu, 1410 – 1418 for Go-Komatsu and Emperor Sh&ōkō)
*Ichijō Kanera (Sesshō 1432, Kampaku 1447 – 1453 for Emperor Go-Hanazono, 1467 – 1470 for Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado)
*Ichijō Norifusa (Kampaku 1458 – 1463 for Emperor Go-Hanazono)
*Ichijō Fuyuyoshi (Kampaku 1488 – 1493 for Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado, 1497 – 1501 for Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado and Emperor Go-Kashiwabara)

Famous Sesshō and Kampaku of the Azuchi-Momoyama period

*Konoe Sakihisa (Kampaku 1554 – 1568 for Emperor Go-Nara and Emperor Ōgimachi)
*Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Kampaku 1585 – 1591 for Ōgimachi and Emperor Go-Yōzei)
*Toyotomi Hidetsugu (Kampaku 1591 – 1595 for Emperor Go-Yōzei)

Famous Sesshō and Kampaku of the Edo period

*Konoe Nobutaka (Kampaku 1605 – 1607 for Emperor Go-Yōzei)
*Konoe Iehira (Kampaku 1707 – 1709 for Emperor Higashiyama, Sesshō 1709 – 1712 for Emperor Nakamikado)

Sesshō of the modern era

Under the Imperial Household Law, the office of sesshō is restricted to the Imperial Family.
*Crown Prince Hirohito, later Emperor Shōwa (Sesshō 1921 – 1926 for the mentally disabled Emperor Taishō)





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