Ministries of Japan in the context of "Minister of State"

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (文部科学省, Monbu-kagaku-shō; lit. 'Ministry of Letters and Science'; MEXT) is one of the eleven ministries of Japan that compose part of the executive branch of the government of Japan.

An incorporated administrative agency (独立行政法人, Dokuritsu gyōsei hōjin; Dokugyo in abbreviation), or independent administrative institution, is a type of legal corporation formulated by the Government of Japan under the Act on General Rules for Incorporated Administrative Agencies (Act no. 103 of 1999, revised in 2014). The independent agencies are not under the National Government Organization Act that provides for the ministries and agencies of Japan.

Originally proposed by the Administrative Reform Council, the independent agencies are created based on the concept of separating the ministries and agencies of the government into planning functions and operation functions. Planning functions remain within government-based ministries and agencies while operating functions are transferred to the independent agencies.