A body of elder statesmen of Japan, formerly used as informal advisors to the Emperor
(Japanese; "principal elders") Extraconstitutional oligarchy that dominated the Japanese government from the promulgation of the Meiji Constitution (1889) to the early 1930s. The genro were men who had played a leading role in the 1868 Meiji Restoration. Their caretaking role outside the official government structure continued the Japanese tradition of having actual authority wielded by forces other than the titular authority. See also Fujiwara family; Hj family; It Hirobumi; Yamagata Aritomo