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Home Ministry

内務省 Naimu-shō
Agency overview
Formed	November 10, 1873 (1873-11-10)
Dissolved	December 31, 1947 (1947-12-31)
Superseding agencies	National Police Agency Ministry of Health and Welfare Ministry of Construction Ministry of Home Affairs
Jurisdiction	Japan
Headquarters	Chiyoda-ku,Tokyo,Japan
Parent agency	Empire of Japan

TheHome Ministry (内務省,Naimu-shō) was aCabinet-level ministry established under theMeiji Constitution that managed the internal affairs ofEmpire of Japan from 1873 to 1947. Its duties included local administration, elections,police, monitoring people,social policy andpublic works. In 1938, the HM's social policy was detached from itself, then the Ministry of Health and Welfare was established. In 1947, the HM was abolished under theSupreme Commander for the Allied Powers restoration, then its administrative affairs were proceeded to theNational Police Agency, theMinistry of Construction, theMinistry of Home Affairs and so on. In 2001, the MOHA was integrated with the Management and Coordination Agency and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, then the Ministry of Public Management, Home affairs, Posts and Telecommunications was established. In 2004, the MPHPT changed its English name into theMinistry of Internal Affairs and Communications. In other words, the MIC is the direct descendant of the HM.

After theMeiji Restoration, the leaders of the newMeiji government envisioned a highly centralized state to replace the old feudal order. Within months afterEmperor Meiji'sCharter Oath, the ancientritsuryō structure from the lateHeian period was revived in a modified form with an express focus on the separation of legislative, administrative, and judicial functions within a newDaijō-kan system.^[1]

Having just returned from theIwakura Mission in 1873,Ōkubo Toshimichi pushed forward a plan for the creation of an "Interior ministry" within theDaijō-kan modeled after similar ministries in European nations, headed by himself. The Home Ministry was established as government department in November 1873,^[2] initially as an internal security agency to deal with possible threats to the government from increasingly disgruntled ex-samurai, and political unrest spawned by theSeikanron debate. In addition to controlling the police administration, the new department was also responsible for theFamily register,civil engineering,topographic surveys,censorship, andpromotion of agriculture. In 1874, administration of the post office was added to its responsibilities. In 1877, overview of religious institutes was added. The head of the Home Ministry was referred to as the "Home Lord" and effectively functioned as theHead of Government.

The Home Ministry also initially had the responsibility for promoting local industry,^[3] but this duty was taken over by theMinistry of Agriculture and Commerce in 1881.

In 1885, with the establishment of thecabinet system, the Home Ministry was reorganized byYamagata Aritomo, who became the first Home Minister. Bureaus were created with responsibilities for general administration, local administration, police, public works,public health, postal administration, topographic surveys, religious institutions and the nationalcensus. The administration ofHokkaidō andKarafuto Prefectures also fell under the direct jurisdiction of the Home Ministry, and all prefectural governors (who were appointed by the central government) came under the jurisdiction of the Home Ministry. In 1890, theRailroad Ministry and in 1892, theCommunications Ministry were created, removing the postal administration functions from the Home Ministry.

On the other hand, with the establishment ofState Shinto, a Department of Religious Affairs was added to the Home Ministry in 1900. Following theHigh Treason Incident, theTokko special police force was also created in 1911. The Department of Religious Affairs was transferred to the Ministry of Education in 1913.

From the 1920s period, faced with the growing issues of agrarian unrest andBolshevik-inspiredlabor unrest, the attention of the Home Ministry was increasingly focused on internal security issues. Through passage of thePeace Preservation Law#Public Security Preservation Law of 1925, the Home Ministry was able to use its security apparatus to suppresspolitical dissent and the curtail the activities of thesocialists,communists and thelabor movement. The power of theTokkō was expanded tremendously, and it expanded to include branches in every Japanese prefecture, major city, and overseas locations with a large Japanese population. In the late 1920s and 1930s, theTokkō launched a sustained campaign to destroy theJapanese Communist Party with several waves of mass arrests of known members, sympathizers and suspected sympathizers (March 15 incident).

In 1936, an Information and Propaganda Committee was created within the Home Ministry, which issued all officialpress statements, and which worked together with the Publications Monitoring Department on censorship issues. In 1937, jointly with the Ministry of Education, the Home Ministry administered theNational Spiritual Mobilization Movement, and the Home Ministry assisted in implementation of theNational Mobilization Law in 1938 to place Japan on atotal war footing. The public health functions of the Ministry were separated into theMinistry of Health in 1938.

In 1940, theInformation and Propaganda Department (情報部,Jōhōbu) was elevated to the Information Bureau (情報局,Jōhōkyoku), which consolidated the previously separate information departments from theImperial Japanese Army,Imperial Japanese Navy andForeign Ministry under the aegis of the Home Ministry. The newJōhōkyoku had complete control over all news, advertising and public events.^[4] In February 1941 it distributed among editors a black list of writers whose articles they were advised not to print anymore.^[5]

Also in 1940, with the formation of theTaisei Yokusankai political party, the Home Ministry strengthened its efforts to monitor and control political dissent, also through enforcement of thetonarigumi system, which was also used to coordinatecivil defense activities throughWorld War II. In 1942, theMinistry of Colonial Affairs was abolished, and the Home Ministry extended its influence to Japanese external territories.

After thesurrender of Japan, the Home Ministry coordinated closely with theAllied occupation forces to maintain public order inoccupied Japan.

One of the first actions of the post-war Home Ministry was the creation of an officially sanctionedbrothel system under the aegis of the "Recreation and Amusement Association", which was created on August 28, 1945. The intention was officially to contain the sexual urges of the occupation forces, protect the main Japanese populace fromrape and preserve the "purity" of the "Japanese race".^[6]However, by October 1945, the scope of activities of the Home Ministry was increasingly limited, with the disestablishment ofState Shinto and the abolishment of theTokkō, and with censorship and monitoring of labor union activities taken under direct American supervision. Many of the employees of the Home Ministry werepurged from office.

The American authorities felt that the concentration of power into a single ministry was both a cause and a symptom of Japan's pre-wartotalitarian mentality, and also felt that the centralization of police authority into a massive centrally controlled ministry was dangerous for the democratic development of post-war Japan.

The Home Ministry was formally abolished on 31 December 1947 under theRemoval of Restrictions on Political, Civil, and Religious Liberties. Its functions were dispersed to theMinistry of Home Affairs (自治省Jiji-shō), now theMinistry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Ministry of Health and Welfare (厚生省Kōsei-shō), now theMinistry of Health, Labour and Welfare,National Public Safety Commission (国家公安委員会Kokka-kōan-iinkai), Ministry of Construction (建設省Kensetsu-shō), now theMinistry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.^[7]

• Beasley, W.G. (2000).The Rise of Modern Japan: Political, Economic, and Social Change since 1850. Palgrave Macmillan.ISBN 0-312-23373-6.
• Samuels, Richard J (1996).Rich Nation, Strong Army:National Security and the Technological Transformation of Japan. Cornell University Press.ISBN 0-312-23373-6.
• Sims, Richard (2001).Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868–2000. Palgrave Macmillan.ISBN 0-312-23915-7.

• National Archives of Japan:Illustrations of Road to Nikko, scroll purchased by Home Ministry (1881) --see ministry seal in red

• Government ministries established in 1873
• Government ministries disestablished in 1947
• 1873 establishments in Japan
• 1947 disestablishments in Japan
• Government of the Empire of Japan
• Former government ministries of Japan
• Home Ministry (Japan)
• State Shinto

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