Premodern Japan
Part of a series on the politics and government of Japan during the Nara andHeian periods
Daijō-kan (Council of State)
Chancellor / Chief Minister	Daijō-daijin
Minister of the Left	Sadaijin
Minister of the Right	Udaijin
Minister of the Center	Naidaijin
Major Counselor	Dainagon
Middle Counselor	Chūnagon
Minor Counselor	Shōnagon
Eight Ministries
Center	Nakatsukasa-shō
Ceremonial	Shikibu-shō
Civil Administration	Jibu-shō
Popular Affairs	Minbu-shō
War	Hyōbu-shō
Justice	Gyōbu-shō
Treasury	Ōkura-shō
Imperial Household	Kunai-shō
v t e

TheMinistry of War orMilitary Ministry^[1] (兵部省,Hyōbu-shō), sometimes calledTsuwamono no Tsukasa, was a division of the eighth centuryJapanese government of theImperial Court in Kyoto,^[2] instituted in theAsuka period and formalized during theHeian period. The Ministry was replaced in theMeiji period.

The highest-ranking official or head of the military (兵部卿,,Hyōbu-kyō) was ordinarily a son or a close relative of the Emperor. This important court officer was responsible for directing all military matters; and after the beginning in the late 12th century, this military man would have been empowered to work with the shogunate on the emperor's behalf.^[3]

The ambit of the Ministry's activities encompasses, for example:

• oversight of the rosters of military officers, including examinations, appointment, ranks, etc.^[4]
• dispatching of troops^[4]
• supervision of arsenals of weapons, guards, fortifications and signal fires^[4]
• maintenance of pastures, military horses, and public and private horses and cattle^[4]
• administration of postal stations^[4]
• control of the manufacture of weapons and weapon-makers^[4]
• oversight of drumming and in flute playing^[4]
• control of public and private means of water transportation^[4]
• regulation of the training of hawks and dogs.^[4]

The ministry was established as part of theTaika Reforms andRitsuryō laws which were initiated in theAsuka period and formalized during theHeian period. After 702, the Hyōbu-shō replaced theHyōseikan, which was created in 683.^[5]

In theEdo period, titles associated with the ministry became ceremonial titles.

In theMeiji period, thehyōbu-shō was reorganized into a modernMinistry of War andMinistry of the Navy.

The Asuka-, Nara- and Heian-period Imperial court hierarchy encompassed a ministry dealing with military affairs.^[1]

In the 18th century, the top ritsuryō officials within this ministry structure were:

• Minister or chief official (兵部卿,Hyōbu-kyō), usually a son or a close relative of the Emperor.^[6]
• First assistant to the Minister (兵部大輔,Hyōbu-taifu).^[3]
• Second assistant to the Minister (兵部少輔,Hyōbu-shōfu).^[3]
• Senior staff officer (兵部大丞,Hyōbu-taijō).^[3]
• Junior staff officers (兵部少丞,Hyōbu-shōjō), two positions.^[3]
• Director of dance (隼人正,Hayato no kami), considered a very low rank.^[3]
• First assistant director (隼人佑,Hayato no jō).^[3]
• Alternate assistant director (隼人令史,Hayato no sakan).^[3]

• Daijō-kan
• Imperial Japanese Army (1871–1945)
• Imperial Japanese Navy (1871–1945)
• Japan Self-Defense Forces (1954–)
• Ministry of Defense (Japan)

• Kawakami, Karl Kiyoshi. (1903).The Political Ideas of the Modern Japan. Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Press.OCLC 466275784.Internet Archive, full text
• Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005).Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge:Harvard University Press.ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5;OCLC 48943301
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834).Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou,Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.OCLC 5850691
• Varley, H. Paul. (1980).Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. New York: Columbia University Press.ISBN 978-0-231-04940-5;OCLC 59145842

• Friday, Karl F. (1992).Hired Swords: the Rise of Private Warrior Power in Early Japan. Stanford:Stanford University Press.ISBN 978-0-804-71978-0;ISBN 978-0-804-72696-2

• Former defence ministries
• Former government ministries of Japan
• Government of feudal Japan
• Meiji Restoration
• Military history of feudal Japan

• Articles containing Japanese-language text