In Japan the Peerage Law was enacted by the Imperial Household Ministry in 1884 after the Meiji Restoration, and Article 2 stipulated that the Kazoku (peerage) was divided into Gotoshaku or five ranks including Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount and Baron, under which, a Duke ranked first.
日本では明治維新後の明治17年（1884年）に宮内省達華族令が制定され、第二条において華族を公侯伯子男の五等爵とされ、公爵は第1位とされた。