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(Yamagata, Matsukata and Ito) took turns as Premier and were in power (with other Elder Statesmen, like Inouye and Oyama, sometimes in the Cabinets with them) for about twelve years. Then for the next period of about twelve years, Katsura (Yamagata’s lieutenant) and Saionji (Ito’s lieutenant) held power alternately.

The table of Cabinets also shows that the average duration of the fourteen ministries that held office for a period of 24⅓ years (December 1889–March 1914) is almost twenty-one months. The average of the first eight Ministries, which covered eleven and one-half years, is a little over seventeen months; while the average of the last six Ministries, which covered almost thirteen years, is almost twenty-six months. It is interesting to note that the two unusually long terms were held by the first Ito and the first Katsura Ministries, which covered the periods respectively of the War with China (1894, 1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904, 1905), when political rivalries were temporarily buried. Moreover, Katsura holds two records—of both the longest and the shortest ministries.

As in England, any member of the Cabinet may be also a member of either House. And ministers who may not be members have, nevertheless, the right at any time to take seats