Okubo had attained to a position of influence in the Satsuma clan long prior to the restoration of imperial rule, and it followed almost as a matter of course that when the new administration was formed he became a member of the first Council of State. Prince Sanjo was the Chancellor (Dai-jo-dai-jin), and the feudal chieftain of Satsuma officiated as one of the Vice-chancellors (Sa-dai-jin) while Prince Iwakura was the other (U-dai-jin). Sai means left, and U right,—the left being highest in Japan. This Council gave place to a body closely resembling a Cabinet as it exists in Occidental countries, in 1885, and with it disappeared the title of Dai-jo-dai-jin, or Prime Minister, the head of the Government now being styled Minister-president of State. The earliest efforts of the new government were directed to the abolition of the Kioto Court influence which had for centuries been potent to sway the decisions of the Emperor, especially during the lifetime of Komei Tenno. Dating from the days of Iyeyasu the first Tokugawa Shogun, a sharp distinction had been drawn between the court nobles and the territorial barons (dai-mio), and this it was found to be desirable at once to abolish. Another long stride was taken when the Court decided to remove to Yedo, and renamed that city Tokio, _lit._: East Capital, the older metropolis of Kioto being simultaneously renamed Saikio, _lit._: West Capital, to prevent confusion. As a matter of fact, however, the title of Saikio never entirely supplanted the older one of Kioto, and it is by the ancient appellation that the capital of the west is perhaps best known at the present day.