The was a Cabinet-level ministry in the Empire of Japan, operating a postal, telegraph and telephone service. Its modern successors include the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan Post Holdings and NTT.
History
Meiji period On December 22, 1885 the Ministry of Communications was established, combining the Bureau of Posts and Post Station Maintenance and Shipping Bureau formerly under the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce with the Telegraph Bureau and Lighthouse Management Bureau formerly under the Ministry of Industry. On August 16, 1891, the ministry was also placed in charge of the nascent Japanese electric power industry. On July 21, 1892, the Railway Bureau was transferred to the Ministry of Communications from the Home Ministry and from November 10, 1893, the ministry was charged with the supervision of all land and water transportation businesses.
However, on December 5, 1908, the Railway Bureau was separated to become an independent bureau reporting directly to the Cabinet.
Showa period
In April 1923, responsibility for civil aviation supervision was transferred to the Ministry of Communications from the Army Ministry. With the creation of the Railway Ministry in May 1928, supervision of all land transportation was removed from the Ministry of Communications. With the establishment in January 1938 of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, all matters pertaining to the postal insurance program were transferred to the new ministry, with the Ministry of Communications retaining control of the post offices and managing the postal system (including the Postal savings system. In December 1941, an external Maritime Affairs Council was established and took over the Lighthouse Bureau.
On November 1, 1943 the Ministry of Communications was merged with Railway Ministry to become the Ministry of Communications and Transport. Electrical production and aircraft manufacturing regulation was transferred to the Minister of Munitions. Posts, telephone and telegraph, post office bank and insurance came under the Communications Institute, where issues relating the transportation came under the Directorate General of Shipping.
In May 1945, the Communications Institute became the Board of Communications, reporting directly to the Cabinet, and the Ministry of Communications and Transport was renamed the Ministry of Transport.
Post-war dissolution After the surrender of Japan, the American occupation authorities briefly reestablished the Ministry of Communications on April 1, 1946; however it was in charge of only posts, telecommunications and the security of aerial navigation. The Ministry was formally abolished on April 1, 1949 and its responsibilities divided between the new Ministry of Postal Services and Ministry of Telecommunications.
Ministers of Communications Name Cabinet Date in office comments 1 Enomoto Takeaki 1st Itō, Kuroda 22 December 1885 concurrently Agriculture & Commerce 2 Gotō Shōjirō Kuroda, 1st Yamagata, 1st Matsukata 30 April 1888 3 Kuroda Kiyotaka 2nd Itō 8 August 1892 4 Watanabe Kunitake 2nd Itō 17 March 1895 concurrently Finance Minister 5 Shirane Senichi 2nd Itō, 2nd Matsukata 9 October 1895 6 Nomura Yasushi 2nd Matsukata 26 September 1898 7 Suematsu Kenchō 3rd Itō 12 January 1898 8 Hayashi Yūzō Ōkuma 30 June 1898 9 Yoshikawa Akimasa 2nd Yamagata 8 November 1898 10 Hoshi Tōru 4th Itō 19 October 1900 11 Hara Takashi 4th Itō 22 December 1900 12 Yoshikawa Akimasa 1st Katsura 2 June 1901 13 Sone Arasuke 1st Katsura 17 July 1903 concurrently Finance Minister 14 Ōura Kanetake 1st Katsura 12 September 1903 15 Yamagata Isaburō 1st Saionji 7 July 1906 16 Hara Takashi 1st Saionji 14 January 1908 concurrently Home Minister 17 Hotta Masayasu 1st Saionji 25 March 1908 18 Gotō Shinpei 2nd Katsura 14 July 1908 19 Hayashi Tadasu 2nd Katsura 30 August 1911 concurrently Home Minister 20 Gotō Shinpei 3rd Katsura 21 December 1912 21 Motoda Hajime 1st Yamamoto 20 February 1913 22 Taketomi Tokitoshi 2nd Ōkuma 16 April 1914 23 Minoura Katsundo 2nd Ōkuma 10 August 1915 24 Den Kenjirō Terauchi 9 October 1916 25 Noda Utarō Hara, Takahashi 29 September 1918 26 Maeda Toshisada Katō Tomosaburō 12 June 1922 27 Inukai Tsuyoshi 2nd Yamamoto 2 September 1923 concurrently Education Minister 28 Yoshirō Fujimura Kiyoura 7 January 1924 29 Inukai Tsuyoshi Katō Takaaki 11 June 1924 30 Adachi Kenzō Katō Takaaki, 1st Wakatsuki 30 May 1925 31 Mochizuki Keisuke Tanaka 20 April 1927 32 Fusanosuke Kuhara Tanaka 23 May 1928 33 Matajirō Koizumi Hamaguchi, 2nd Wakatsuki 2 July 1929 34 Chūzō Mitsuji Inukai 13 December 1931 35 Hiroshi Minami Saitō 26 May 1932 36 Tokonami Takejirō Okada 8 July 1934 37 Keisuke Okada Okada 9 September 1935 concurrently Prime Minister 38 Mochizuki Keisuke Okada 12 September 1935 39 Tanomogi Keikichi Hirota 9 March 1936 40 Tatsunosuke Yamazaki Hayashi 2 February 1937 concurrently Agriculture & Forestry Minister 41 Hideo Kodama Hayashi 10 February 1937 42 Ryūtarō Nagai 1st Konoe 4 June 1937 43 Suehiko Shiono Hiranuma 5 January 1939 concurrently Justice Minister 44 Harumichi Tanabe Hiranuma 7 April 1939 45 Ryūtarō Nagai Abe 30 August 1939 concurrently Railway Minister 46 Masanori Katsu Yonai 16 January 1940 47 Shōzō Murata 2nd Konoe, 3rd Konoe 22 July 1940 48 Ken Terajima Tōjō 18 October 1941 49 Yoshiaki Hatta Tōjō 8 October 1943 concurrently Railway Minister
References