In America, when we think of bureaucracy, it doesn’t conjure the best associations. In Japan, meanwhile, the bureaucracy has a long history as one of the central organs of the state. So, how did that happen, and why has the bureaucracy–rather uniquely among Japanese institutions–survived as long as it has?
Sources
Jansen, Marius. The Making of Modern Japan
Spence, Jonathan. The Search for Modern China
Koh, B.C. Japan’s Administrative Elite
Images
The Tang dynasty bureaucracy, generally pretty typical of most imperial bureaucracies in China after that time.A diagram of the Heian era bureaucracy.A Japanese only (sorry) schematic of the Tokugawa bureaucracy. This gives you some sense of the major divisions. In times of weak shoguns, the roju advisory council (or the seniormost member, the tairo) would usually actually be calling the shots.Entrance to the Ming Dynasty Jiangnan Examination Hall in Nanjing. This gives you a sense of the prestige of a bureaucratic gig in imperial China.A schematic of the Heian era imperial palace. The Dairi is the household of the emperor; you can see how close the buildings that the bureaucracy operated from are to it (all the other labeled ones except the Burakuin).
