Daigaku-no-kami was a Japanese Imperial court position and the title of the chief education expert in the rigid court hierarchy. The ImperialDaigaku-no-kami predates the Heian period; and the court position continued up through the early Meiji period. The title and position were conferred in the name of the Emperor of Japan. In the Edo period, the head of the educational and bureaucrat training system for the Tokugawa shogunate was also known by the honorific titleDaigaku-no-kami, which effectively translates as "Head of the State University". The title and position were conferred in the name of the shōgun.
The Imperial court position of Daigaku-no-kami identified the chief education expert in the Imperial retinue. The Daigaku-no-kami was head of the Imperial University, the Daigaku-ryō. The title arose during evolution of governmental reorganizations beginning in 701. These pre-Heian period innovations are collectively known as the Ritsuryo. The position and the title ultimately came about under the direction of Prince Osakabe, Fujiwara no Fuhito and Awata no Mahito at the request of Emperor Monmu. Like many other developments at the time, the title was an adaptation derived from the governmental system of China's Tang dynasty. The somewhat inflexible hierarchical nature of the court requires that the function of the Daigaku-no-kami be understood both in terms of specific functions and in terms of those ranking above and below in the Ministry of Civil Services. In the Asuka period, the Nara period and the Heian period, the Imperial court hierarchy encompassed a Shikibu-shō; also known as the "Ministry of Legislative Direction and Public Instruction". This ministry collected and maintained biographical archives of meritorious subjects. Within this ministry structure, the highest-ranking official was the Chief administrator of the ministry of civil services; also known as Chief minister of public instruction. This office was typically filled by a son or close relative of the emperor. For example, in 773, the daigaku-no-kami was Yamabe-shinnō, who was named Crown Prince and heir of Emperor Kōnin. However, there were exceptions to this general rule if there was an especially pre-eminent contemporary scholar, such as in the case of Miyoshi Kiyotsura. There were seven judges who directly assisted this minister. Ranking just below these judges were educational authorities:
Chief Education expert.
* Chief experts on history.
* Chief experts on classical works.
* Chief experts on jurisprudence.
* Chief experts on mathematics.
* Chief calligrapher of the court. There would have been many copyist calligraphers working under the direction of the chief calligrapher.
In the Edo period, this title identifies the head of the chief educational institution of the Tokugawa state. It was conferred by the shōgun in 1691 when the Neo-Confucian academy moved to land provided by the shogunate. In the years which followed, this academic title became hereditary for the ten descendants of Hayashi Hōkō who were sequential heads of the Yushima Seidō. The 10 rectors of the institution who were each identified by the title daigaku-no-kami were:
The rector of the Yushima Seidō stood at the apex of the country-wide educational and training system which was created and maintained with the personal involvement of successive shōguns. The position as rector of the Yushima Seidō became hereditary in the Hayashi family. The rectors' scholarly reputation was burnished by publication in 1657 of the 7 volumes of Survey of the Sovereigns of Japan and by the publication in 1670 of the 310 volumes of The Comprehensive History of Japan.
Meiji constitutional hierarchy
In the course of the Meiji Restoration, this Imperial title was abolished; but its position within the ambit of a reorganized government structure would be developed further in the Meiji period Daijō-kan.
