Editing Prime Minister of Japan (section)

== History ==
[[File:ITŌ_Hirobumi.jpg|thumb|[[Itō Hirobumi]], the first Prime Minister of Japan]]
Before the adoption of the [[Meiji Constitution]], Japan had in practice no written [[constitution]]. Originally, a Chinese-inspired legal system known as ''[[ritsuryō]]'' was enacted in the late [[Asuka period]] and early [[Nara period]]. It described a government based on an elaborate and rational [[meritocracy|meritocratic]] bureaucracy, serving, in theory, under the ultimate authority of the [[Emperor of Japan|emperor]]; although in practice, real power was often held elsewhere, such as in the hands of the [[Fujiwara clan]], who intermarried with the [[Imperial House of Japan|imperial family]] in the [[Heian period]], or by the ruling ''[[shōgun]]''. Theoretically, the last ''ritsuryō'' code, the [[Yōrō Code]] enacted in 752, was still in force at the time of the [[Meiji Restoration]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Osamu |first=Ryoichi |date=May 2021 |title=POLITICAL CHANGING FOR PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351392992 |journal=International Journal of Law Reconstruction}}</ref>

Under this system, the {{Nihongo|''[[Daijō-daijin]]''|太政大臣||Chancellor of the Realm}}<ref>''Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary'', Kenkyusha Limited, {{ISBN|4-7674-2015-6}}</ref> was the head of the ''[[Daijō-kan]]'' (Department of State), the highest organ of Japan's pre-modern Imperial government during the [[Heian period]] and until briefly under the Meiji Constitution with the appointment of [[Sanjō Sanetomi]] in 1871. The office was replaced in 1885 with the appointment of [[Itō Hirobumi]] to the new position of Minister President of State,<ref>Legal framework for Prime Minister and Cabinet in the Empire: [https://archive.today/20130906090856/http://dajokan.ndl.go.jp/SearchSys/Details.pl?ID=01701439&FLKEY=0026561378456292 Dajōkan proclamation No. 69 of 22 December 1885 (内閣職権, ''naikaku shokken'')], later replaced by [http://hourei.ndl.go.jp/SearchSys/viewEnkaku.do?i=gaKY08sYF4fjXji9%2fGm3mg%3d%3d Imperial edict No. 135 of 1889 (内閣官制, ''naikaku kansei'')] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200917/http://hourei.ndl.go.jp/SearchSys/viewEnkaku.do?i=gaKY08sYF4fjXji9%2FGm3mg%3D%3D |date=March 3, 2016 }} in effect until 1947</ref> four years before the enactment of the Meiji Constitution, which mentions neither the Cabinet nor the position of Prime Minister explicitly.<ref>Article 55 of the Imperial Constitution only bound the ministers of state, i.e. all members of the cabinet including the prime minister, to "give their advice to the Emperor and be responsible for it."</ref><ref>[[Kantei]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20130202085442/http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/cabinet_system/index.html Cabinet System of Japan]</ref> It took its current form with the adoption of the [[Constitution of Japan]] in 1947.

To date, [[List of prime ministers of Japan|sixty-five men]] have served this position. The [[List of prime ministers of Japan by time in office|longest-serving prime minister to date]] is [[Shinzo Abe]], who served in two non-consecutive terms for 8 years, 267 days: from 26 September 2006 until 26 September 2007, and from 26 December 2012 until 16 September 2020.<ref name="CBS-Abe-off-resigns">{{cite news |title=Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe officially resigns |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shinzo-abe-japanese-prime-minister-and-cabinet-resign-2020-09-15/ |work=CBSNews |agency=AP |date=16 September 2020}}</ref> The shortest-serving prime minister to date is [[Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni]], who served for fifty-four days: from 17 August until 9 October 1945.