In class field theory, the Takagi existence theorem states that for any number field K there is a one-to-one inclusion reversing correspondence between the finite abelian extensions of K (in a fixed algebraic closure of K) and the generalized ideal class groups defined via a modulus of K. It is called an existence theorem because a main burden of the proof is to show the existence of enough abelian extensions of K. Formulation Here a modulus (or ray divisor) is a formal finite product of the valuations (also called primes or places) of K with positive integer exponents. The archimedean valuations that might appear in a modulus include only those whose completions are the real numbers (not the complex numbers); they may be identified with orderings on K and occur only to exponent one. The modulus m is a product of a non-archimedean (finite) part mf and an archimedean (infinite) part m∞. The non-archimedean part mf is a nonzero ideal in the ring of integers OK of K and the archimedean part m∞ is simply a set of real embeddings of K. Associated to such a modulus m are two groups of fractional ideals. The larger one, Im, is the group of all fractional ideals relatively prime to m (which means these fractional ideals do not involve any prime ideal appearing in mf). The smaller one, Pm, is the group of principal fractional ideals (u/v) where u and v are nonzero elements of OK which are prime to mf, u ≡ v mod mf, and u/v > 0 in each of the orderings of m∞. (It is important here that in Pm, all we require is that some generator of the ideal has the indicated form. If one does, others might not. For instance, taking K to be the rational numbers, the ideal (3) lies in P4 because (3) = (−3) and −3 fits the necessary conditions. But (3) is not in P4∞ since here it is required that the positive generator of the ideal is 1 mod 4, which is not so.) For any group H lying between Im and Pm, the quotient Im/H is called a generalized ideal class group. It is these generalized ideal class groups which correspond to abelian extensions of K by the existence theorem, and in fact are the Galois groups of these extensions. That generalized ideal class groups are finite is proved along