However, these are examples of just retiring from the public duties of the Ritsuryo codes, and in fact they retained the position of the head of the family and the real political power as the position of the ruler exercising his power as patriarch of the Imperial family
ただしこれはあくまで律令上の公職からの隠退であり、治天の君として皇室の家督の地位はなお保持し、政治の実権を握っていた。