Independent Office
The modern office was established in 1885, after the Meiji government established the cabinet; however, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal was separate from the cabinet, and acted as a direct, personal advisor to the Emperor. He was also responsible for the administration of imperial documents such as rescripts and edicts. Petitions to the emperor and the court were also handled by the Lord Keeper's office, as well as the responses.
When the Privy Council was created in 1888, the Privy Seal retained his independent advisory role. The term "privy" in Privy Council and Privy Seal identifies a direct relationship of special trust.
In 1907, the post was expanded to become the Naidaijin-fu (Office of the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) with a chief secretary, three secretaries and six assistants in order to handle the increased workload with the passing of the genrÅ.
Read more about this topic: Lord Keeper Of The Privy Seal Of Japan
Famous quotes containing the words independent and/or office:
“[My father] was a lazy man. It was the days of independent incomes, and if you had an independent income you didn’t work. You weren’t expected to. I strongly suspect that my father would not have been particularly good at working anyway. He left our house in Torquay every morning and went to his club. He returned, in a cab, for lunch, and in the afternoon went back to the club, played whist all afternoon, and returned to the house in time to dress for dinner.”
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“There’s something about the dead silence of an office building at night. Not quite real. The traffic down below is something that didn’t have anything to do with me.”
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