been Associate Counselor were referred to as non-Associate Counselor (Hisangi). In 758, the Chancellor of the Realm was renamed Taishi from Daijō-daijin, the Minister of the Left was renamed Taifu from Sadaijin, the Minister of the Right was renamed Taiho from Udaijin, and the Major Counsellor was renamed Gyoshitaifu from Dainagon. However, after the death of Fujiwara no Nakamaro in 764, the old names were restored. As part of the Meiji reforms, a single aristocratic class, the kazoku, was created in 1869 by merging the kuge (the court nobility in Kyoto, of which the kugyō was a part) and the daimyōs (the feudal land holders and warriors). In the 1870s, the organizational structure of the court itself was also modernized. In the period after the Second World War, the kazoku was abolished, as a part of post-war Japanese reforms. The remaining political powers of the Emperor were transferred to the constitutional government of Japan, and the responsibility for state matters concerning the Emperor and the Imperial family was consolidated entirely into the Imperial Household Agency. Terminology The kugyō was also known as kandachime (上達部), keishō (卿相), gekkei (月卿), and kyokuro or odoronomichi (棘路). While kugyō was the collective term for the holders of a court rank between First Rank and Third Rank, the term for the holders of Fourth Rank and Fifth Rank was Taifu. See also Daijō-kan Kuge Ministry of the Imperial Household Kōkyū Sesshō and Kampaku References Daijirin, 2nd edition Daijisen, 1st edition Kōjien, 6th edition Japanese historical terms Royal and noble courts Japanese courtiers