Tairō
| Tairō of Chisei | |
|---|---|
 Chiseian naval jack | |
| Style | Tairō |
| Residence | Kurowashi Palace, Eito Shimada Building, Tazawa |
| Seat | Eito, Chisei |
| Appointer | Council of Elders |
| Term length | Indefinite |
| Precursor | Chancellor |
| Formation | 19 February 1924 |
| First holder | Shō Yoritaka |
| Final holder | Shiba Amame |
| Abolished | 15 March 1954 |
| Succession | Chancellor |
The Tairō (Chiseian Yashiman: 大老, "great elder", Kannaguru: Taru) was the head of government in Chisei during the period of the Conciliar Government. The Tairō served as the chair of the Council of Elders, a committee of leading military officials and civilian administrators.
The power of the office varied over time; originally a ceremonial primus inter pares post during the early conciliar period (1924 - 1930), it's authority was greatly consolidated in the years preceding the Second Escar-Varunan War, during which it was initially held by Mō Toshinori. A coup in 1934 deposed Mō and placed power over the council with the duarchy of Isokorkur Toya and Gima Maho, with Gima being appointed Tairō. This arrangment would last until 1935, when Toya was removed from the Council by Gima due to his opposition to the White Purge. With the removal of most of Gima's political opponents, the Conciliar Government shifted in form from military junta to outright military dictatorship, with further centralisation of power taking place during the war.
In the postwar period, the authority of the Council of Elders and the Tairō began to decline as a growing movement for the restoration of civilian democracy emerged. The death of Gima in 1947 would lead to a violent power struggle and series of successive coups, with Marshal General of the Royal Army, Shiba Amame, ultimately emerging as the victor by 1947. Bowing to pressure from the public and the monarchy, Shiba presided over the dissolution of the Conciliar government and the drafting of the Meiwa Constitution. The office of Tairō was de facto abolished with the ratification of the new constitution on 15 March 1954, the same day that the Marshal General resigned from the office to run in the coming May elections for Chancellor of Chisei.
Origin
Both the Council of Elders and the title of Tairō significantly predate the New Year Rebellion of the 1920s. The Six Tairō were a group of magnates who were the primary governors of the Enokaji Regency in the Jinshin War. The title would again be resurrected under the later Tan Regency, founded by one of the original six tairō, Tan Norihime, after the Great Shinbi War against Yamatai. Under the Tan, the Tairō would be the second most powerful member of the government after the Kanpaku, overseeing the advisory Council of Elders (老中 Rōjū).
The usage of the 16th century titles was a deliberate strategy by the military regime to tie itself to the prexisting national tradition of resistance against Yamataian domination, legitimising the authoritarian means employed by the Conciliar government to pacify the country and enact it's revanchist, militarist social revolution.
List of tairō
| Name | Image | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shō Yoritaka |  |
19 February 1924 - 6 August 1926 | Initially treated as a charismatic figurehead for the new regime, he was deemed too radical and removed from power by a vote of the council in 1926, and then expelled from the council. Arrested during the White Purge and likely shot. |
| Cinita |  |
10 August 1926 - 8 November 1926 | Took power after Yoritaka's removal but lacked any real ambition or interest in the position - voluntarily resigned in November. Close ally of Gima throughout the period. Arrested after Hatsume's takeover in 1947 and imprisoned. The only surviving member of the original New Year Rebellion leaders, she was prosecuted for treason in 1959, but pardoned in 1963 a few days before her death sentence would be carried out. Died in an arson attack on her estate in 1973. |
| Kuno Nobuyuki |  |
12 November 1926 - 15 November 1926 | Assassinated shortly after taking the position. |
| Rerakur |  |
17 November 1926 - 3 January 1927 | Voted out of office. Imprisoned after the 1934 coup but released and reinstated. Imprisoned again during the White Purge and died in prison. |
| Mō Toshinori |  |
3 January 1927 - 6 April 1934 | Removed in the 6 April incident and subsequently imprisoned. Executed after an attempted coup in 1938. |
| Gima Maho |  |
6 April 1934 - 8 April 1946 | Remained in power throughout the Second Escar-Varunan War. She died of a heart attack in 1946. |
| Gima Yoshinobu |  |
10 April 1946 - 19 August 1946 | Son of Gima Maho. Largely a puppet of Urahara Miyako. Removed peacefully from power by the Hoshimachi Plot, but arrested and shot after Hatsume's coup. |
| Shō Sadaharu |  |
19 August 1946 - July 10 1947 | Arrested and executed on orders of Hatsume, following the July 10 Incident. |
| Shiba Amame |  |
July 11 1947 - 15 March 1954 | Presided over dissolution of the Conciliar Government. Resigned in 1954 to run for election as Chancellor of Chisei and won. |
Current usage
Tairō is today often used in Chiseian political discourse as a sarcastic jibe or insult at public figures deemed to be overly paternalistic or authoritarian in outlook. It is sometimes used synonymously with terms such as dictator (独裁者 dokusai-sha) or despot (暴君 bōkun). The post of Imperial Grand Marshal of Yamatai is sometimes called Yamatai-no-Tairō in Chisei when drawing comparisons between the two contemporary regimes.
Shiba Amame, the last tairō and the first postwar Chancellor of Chisei, was often still casually addressed as tairō in the Chiseian press even after the end of the military government.