''Tairō'' (, "great elder") was a high-ranking official position in the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in ...

government of Japan, roughly comparable to the office of

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. The ''tairō'' presided over the governing ''

rōjū The , usually translated as ''Elder'', was one of the highest-ranking government posts under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council of Elders as a whole; under the first two '' sh� ...

'' 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 policy maker, and provided Japan with a capable temporary leader in the absence of a ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

'', or in the event that the ''shōgun'' was incapacitated.

List of ''tairō''

Notes

References

* Cullen, Louis M. (2003). ''A History of Japan, 1582-1941: Internal and External Worlds.'' Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambr ...

. ;
OCLC 442929163
* Sansom, George Bailey. (1963). ''A History of Japan: 1615-1867.'' Stanford:

Stanford University Press Stanford University Press (SUP) is the publishing house of Stanford University. It is one of the oldest academic presses in the United States and the first university press to be established on the West Coast. It was among the presses officiall ...

OCLC 36820228
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tairo Officials of the Tokugawa shogunate

List of ''tairō''

See also

Notes

References