The first administrative offices (
Sanshoku) of the
Meiji government were established on 3 January 1868: the
Sōsai (President),
Gijō (Administration) and ''San'yo
(Office of Councilors). These offices were abolished on 11 June 1868, with the establishment of the Dajō-kan (Grand Council of State). In the new Meiji government, Sanjō was head of the Gijo
, Minister of the Right (右大臣) (11 June 1868 – 15 August 1871), and Chancellor of the Realm (Dajō-daijin'') (15 August 1871 – 22 December 1885). Sanjō was awarded Grand Cordon of the Supreme
Order of the Chrysanthemum in 1882. On 7 July 1884, his title was changed to that of
koshaku (
prince) under the
kazoku peerage system. Sanjō served until the abolition of the
dajōkan system in 1885. After the Cabinet system was established, he became
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan. In 1889, when
Prime Minister Kuroda Kiyotaka and his cabinet resigned en masse,
Emperor Meiji only accepted Kuroda's resignation and formally invited Sanjō to head the government. The Emperor refused to appoint a new prime minister for the next two months, making Sanjō the only
Prime Minister of Japan (albeit interim) who also concurrently held the post of Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. In 1890, he assumed a seat in the new
House of Peers in the
Diet of Japan established by the
Meiji Constitution. On his death in 1891, he was accorded a
state funeral. His grave is at the temple of
Gokoku-ji in
Bunkyō, Tokyo. ==Honours==