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The Cabinet Room was located on the second floor
of the Kantei and was used to hold regular Cabinet meetings on Tuesdays
and Fridays, as well as extraordinary Cabinet meetings during times of emergency.
Although Cabinet meetings moved to the Cabinet Room in the National Diet building
when the Diet was in session, at all other times, Cabinet meetings were held in
the Kantei.
An oval table measuring 5.2 meters by 6.2 meters sat in the Cabinet Room. The
table was originally round, but after World War II the number of Cabinet posts increased
so the table was elongated twice by dividing it in half and adding extra leaves.
The scene often seen on TV, where all the Cabinet Ministers were sitting in chairs
centered around the Prime Minister, was shot in the Ministerial Reception Room
next to the Cabinet Room, just before the start of Cabinet meetings. The Cabinet
Room itself, however, had not often been shown on TV or photographed for public
viewing.
As Cabinet Ministers used ink brushes to sign Cabinet documents, a suzuri bako
(a case containing an ink brush and ink stone) bearing the name of each Cabinet
Minister in gold lettering was always placed on the table in the Cabinet Room
for each Minister. |
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