State Council of Manchukuo

Manchukuo General Affairs State Council building

The State Council of Manchukuo (滿洲國國務院) was the official executive administrative branch of the government of the Japanese-controlled Empire of Great Manchuria from 1934–1945.

Background

Manchukuo was proclaimed a monarchy on 1 March 1934, with former Qing dynasty emperor Puyi assuming the Manchukuo throne under the reign name of Emperor Kang-de. An imperial rescript issued the same day, promulgated the organic law of the new state, establishing a Privy Council (参議府), a Legislative Council (立法院) and the State Council. The Privy Council was an appointive body consisting of Puyi's closest friends and confidants, and the Legislative Council was largely an honorary body without authority. The State Council was therefore the center of political power in Manchukuo.

Composition

The State Council consisted of ten ministries forming a cabinet. The cabinet ministers were all Manchukuoans, of either ethnic Manchu or Han Chinese descent, while most of the vice-ministers in each ministry were Japanese, appointed by the Kwantung Army leadership. The State Council was supported by a General Affairs Board (総務庁) headed by a Japanese official.

The Council's initial composition was at the time of Prime Minister Zheng Xiaoxu included the following portfolios:

Manchukuo Cabinet Ministers

• Prime Minister
• Home Affairs
• Foreign Affairs
• Defense
• Finance
• Industry and Agriculture
• Transportation and Communications
• Justice
• Education
• Mongolian Affairs

The State Council building

The State Council Building was an imposing five-story structure with two four-story wings built in downtown Xinjing in reinforced concrete with a portal frame construction with a pseudo-oriental roof with towers. The building was designed so that its main entrance faces west. The building is still in use today by the Jilin provincial government in the People's Republic of China. Each of the main cabinet-level ministries also had its own imposing building. Many of these structures are still in use in various capacities in modern China.

References

• Beasley, W.G. (1991). Japanese Imperialism 1894-1945. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-822168-1.
• Dower, John W (1987). War Without Mercy:Race and Power in the Pacific War. Pantheon. ISBN 0-394-75172-8.
• Young, Louise (1999). Japan's Total Empire: Manchuria and the Culture of Wartime Imperialism. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21934-1.
• Stoler, Ann Louise (2007). Imperial Formations. School for Advanced Research Press. ISBN 978-1-930618-73-2.