Shikibu-kyō

Pre-modern Japan
Part of a series on the politics and government of Japan during the Nara and Heian periods
Daijō-kan (Council of State)
Chancellor / Chief Minister	Daijō-daijin
Minister of the Left	Sadaijin
Minister of the Right	Udaijin
Minister of the Center	Naidaijin
Major Counselor	Dainagon
Middle Counselor	Chūnagon
Minor Counselor	Shōnagon
Eight Ministries
Center	Nakatsukasa-shō
Ceremonial	Shikibu-shō
Civil Administration	Jibu-shō
Popular Affairs	Minbu-shō
Military	Hyōbu-shō
Justice	Gyōbu-shō
Treasury	Ōkura-shō
Imperial Household	Kunai-shō

The Ministry of Ceremonial Affairs (式部省, Shikibu-shō) was one of eight ministries of the Japanese imperial court.

It was established by the Taihō Code of early 8th century. The ministry was replaced in the Meiji period.

The ministry was renamed Mombushō for a brief number of years after 758, but the original name was restored in 764. The name has since remained unchanged until the Ritsuryō system was abandoned during the Meiji period.

Shikibu-shō is also where the Lady Murasaki Shikibu derives her name, probably owing to the senior secretary post that her father and her husband once occupied in the ministry. It is also the origin of the name of Shikike, one of the four great branches of the Fujiwara clan. In the Edo period, titles related to the Shikibu-shō, such as Shikibu-tayū (式部大輔), were largely ceremonial and could be held by non-kuge, such as daimyō lords.

Today's organisation is the Board of Ceremonies, a department of the Imperial Household Agency.

The "Ministry of Ceremonial," can arguably be considered the standard translation, as Japanologist Sir George Bailey Sansom wrote in 1932 that this was "the usual rendering in English", as well as being the coinage later adopted in the Appendix to Helen Craig McCullough's Eiga monogatari, which remains as the standard "followed by numerous English-language authors" according to a more recent assessment.

However, Sansom issued the caveat that the use of the word "ceremony" is potentially misleading. Its function is not purely ceremonial, as will be discussed under the #Functions section. Given the dilemma, some commentators have chosen to apply an English name that attempted at a description of the true function, rather than a faithful literal translation. Further discussion, and a compilation of the numerous alternate English names are given in the section #List of translated aliases.