For the political sphere, the civil aristocracy occupied positions of government. Supported by their positions, aristocrats assumed the administrative and ceremonial responsibilities of the state. For example, as McCullough (1999b) explains, every aristocrat became a government official in the civil service who was responsible for performing duties such as: administering the sixty-two provinces; managing government taxes and revenues; conducting Buddhist and Shinto ceremonies; and so forth. These examples illustrate the different responsibilities aristocrats had to perform on a regular basis at court. However, the above examples demonstrate an important point. As officials in the civil service, aristocrats held considerable power at court.