• <i>Kan'in sugoroku</i> - list of ranks in the Meiji government up to the  Daijokan (太政官), the Great Council of the State
<i>Kan'in sugoroku</i> - list of ranks in the Meiji government up to the  Daijokan (太政官), the Great Council of the State
<i>Kan'in sugoroku</i> - list of ranks in the Meiji government up to the  Daijokan (太政官), the Great Council of the State

Anonymous / unknown (artist )

Kan'in sugoroku - list of ranks in the Meiji government up to the Daijokan (太政官), the Great Council of the State

Print


1879
28.75 in x 19 in (Overall dimensions) Publisher: Katō Tomisaburō (加藤冨三郎)
Date in the upper left: 1879 (Meiji 12 - 明治十二年)
East Asian Library, the University of California at Berkeley This game board print was published by Katō Tomisaburō in Osaka (大阪). The name of this city appears both in the name of the publisher along the left hand side, but also in the title in the upper right region.

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The first stop after the beginning is at the Osaka Prefectural Assembly building (大阪府).

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The goal of this game is to reach the position of Daijokan (太政官), or the Great Council of the State from 1868-1885. This was the highest position and only existed briefly in early Meiji. It was terminated in 1885. In order to pursue that dream job, players would need to experience a variety of occupations, including Navy Lord and Museum Director. Each square on the board represents an occupation with each successive square representing a more prestigious job.

The board is composed of four oban size woodblock prints, trimmed and pasted together to form a single sheet.

The name sugoroku 双六 literally translates "twin sixes" and probably derives from the two six-faced dice rolled to determine game play.

Picture Sugoroku 絵双六 were first seen in Japan around the 13th Century but became extremely popular during the Edo period due to inexpensive but elaborate woodblock printmaking. Similar to chutes and ladders games, Sugoroku continued to be popular throughout the Meiji and later periods. Children's magazines frequently included sugoroku as inserts.
sugoroku (双六) (genre)
Meiji era (明治時代: 1868-1912) (author)