Kurōdo-dokoro

Kurōdo-dokoro, Japanese bureau of archivists originally established for the transmission and receipt of documents for the emperor. Initiated by the emperor Saga in 810, the Kurōdo-dokoro soon became the major organ for conveying memorials to the emperor and issuing imperial decrees. During the Heian period (794–1185), the Kurōdo-dokoro was the de facto government council of state, assuming many of the executive and legislative functions of the administration. The bureau was used as a tool of the powerful Fujiwara family for issuing official ordinances on behalf of the emperor. After the decline of Fujiwara power, the importance of the institution diminished, although it was not officially abolished until the end of the Edo (Tokugawa) period in 1867.