c demeanour of the high dignitaries of State in the presence
of such disgraceful doings as those of the Empress and her favourite.
They specially blame Kibi no Makibi, the great scholar. He had
recovered from his temporary eclipse in connexion with the revolt of
Fujiwara Hirotsugu, and he held the office of minister of the Right
during a great part of Koken's reign. Yet it is not on record that he
offered any remonstrance. The same criticism, however, seems to apply
with not less justice to his immediate predecessors in the post of
ministers of the Right, Tachibana no Moroe and Fujiwara no Toyonari;
to the minister of the Left, Fujiwara no Nagate; to the second
councillor, Fujiwara no Matate, and to the privy councillors,
Fujiwara no Yoshitsugu, Fujiwara no Momokawa, and Fujiwara no Uwona.
It was with the Fujiwara families that the responsibility rested
chiefly, and the general conduct of the Fujiwara at that period of
history forbids us to construe their apparent indifference in a
wholly bad sense. Probably the simplest explanation is the true one:
Koken herself was a Fujiwara.

STATE OF THE PROVINCES

In the days of Shomu and Koken administrative abuses were not limited
to the capital, they extended to the provinces also. Among the Daika
and Daiho laws, the first that proved to be a failure was that
relating to provincial governors. At the outset men of ability were
chosen for these important posts, and their term of service was
limited to four years. Soon, however, they began to petition for
reappointment, and under the sway of the Empress Koken a via media
was found by extending the period of office to six years. Moreover,
whereas at first a newly appointed governor was supposed to live in
the official residence of his predecessor, it quickly became the
custom to build a new mansion for the incoming dignitary and leave
the outgoing undisturbed.

What that involved is plain when we observe that such edifices were
all constructed by forced labour. These governors usually possessed
large domains, acquired during their period of office. The Court
endeavoured to check them by despatching inspectors (ansatsu-shi) to
examine and report on current conditions; but that device availed
little. Moreover, the provincial governors exercised the power of
appointing and dismissing the district governors (gunshi) in their
provinces, although this evil system had been prohibited in the time
of Gemmyo. In connexion, too, with the