Rusukan

Not to be confused with rusuiyaku, a samurai official who oversaw the administration of his domain's mansions and interests in Edo on behalf of his lord.

• Established: 1869
• Abolished: 1871/8-9 (October)
• Japanese: 留守官 (rusukan)

The rusukan was a post established by the Meiji government in 1869 to oversee Imperial government in Kyoto while the Meiji Emperor took up residence in Tokyo. Though abolished only two years later, in 1871, the existence of the post helps point to the idea that Tokyo was only an anzaisho, a temporary capital, at least initially, and that the Imperial government continued to be seated in Kyoto until at least 1871.

References

• Takashi Fujitani, Splendid Monarchy, University of California Press (1996), 39.