is the collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan in pre-Meiji eras. The term generally referred to the and court officials and denoted a court rank between First Rank and Third Rank under the Ritsuryō system, as opposed to the lower court nobility, thus being the collective term for the upper court nobility. However, later on some holders of the Fourth Rank were also included. In 1869, following the Meiji Restoration, the court nobility and daimyo were merged into a new peerage, the kazoku. Overview The kugyō generally refers to two groups of court officials: the Kō (公), comprising the Chancellor of the Realm, the Minister of the Left, and the Minister of the Right; and the Kei (卿), comprising the Major Counsellor, the Middle Counsellor, and the Associate Counselors, who held the court rank of Third Rank or higher. History The kugyō originated from the Three Lords and Nine Ministers (三公九卿) of the ancient Chinese Qin dynasty (221 BC – 206 BC). In Japan, the kugyō was similarly divided into two groups of court officials the three Kō and the nine Kei. The Kō comprised the Chancellor of the Realm (Taishi or Daijō-daijin), the Minister of the Left (Taifu or Sadaijin), and the Minister of the Right (Taiho or Udaijin); and the Kei comprised the Associate Counselors (Shōshi, Shōfu, Shōho, Chōsai, Shito, Sōhaku, Shiba, Shikō, and Shikū, or collectively the Sangi), who held the court rank of Third Rank or higher. Under the Ritsuryō system, the kugyō included the three Ministers (Daijin), the Chancellor of the Realm, the Minister of the Left, and the Minister of the Right, and the Major Counsellor (Gyoshitaifu or Dainagon), who held the court rank of Third Rank or higher. However, later on government offices not specified in the administrative code of the ritsuryō, the Regent (Sesshō and Kampaku), the Inner Minister (Naidaijin), the Middle Counsellor (Chūnagon), and Associate Counselors holding the Fourth Rank were also included in the kugyō. The kugyō was also divided into the incumbent courtiers (Gennin) and courtiers without a post (Sani). Additionally, among the courtiers without a post, the courtiers who had at least once held a position of Associate Counselor or higher were referred to as e.g. former Major Counsellor (saki no Dainagon), but courtiers holding a court rank of Third Rank or higher who had never