In Seijigiri for September 2, 2006, we mentioned the Imperial Household Agency, or Kunaicho (宮内庁), and it’s role with regards to the control of information concerning Japan’s imperial family. The Imperial Household Agency’s homepage gives a quick overview of it’s activities (link to the English page is over on the lower right side of the page).

According to the Imperial Household Agency’s history page, the origin of the IHA “can be traced back to the provisions on the government structure in the Taiho Code, which was enacted in 701 under the reign of Emperor Monmu.”

It’s worth noting that the Imperial Household Agency is, in fact, a government agency, as indicated by the Japanese suffix -cho (庁). This puts the IHA on the same level as the Defense Agency (whose Japanese and English homepages are both appalling). Until World War II, both agencies were government ministries, which are designated by the suffix -sho (省).

Although the Ministry of War, or Rikugun Sho (陸軍省), ceased to exist in 1945 and the Defense Agency was not created until 1954, as they both serve essentially the same function, it is common to think of the JDA as having succeeded the Ministry of War.

In recent months, there has been a push by some members of the Koizumi cabinet to raise the Japan Defense Agency back to the ministry level (BBC article).

And, it seems that Abe is one of those pushing for just such a move (International Herald Tribune article).