What is the English counterpart to the Japanese ‘Insei’ – rule by a retired emperor/leader?

There was a following statement in Time magazine’s article (February 25) titled “Second Act” dealing with the step-down of the former Pope Benedict XVI:

The new Pope will be indebted to Benedict XVI. -- and even though he won't be in the Sistine Chapel when the voting takes place, Benedict is bound to influence the outcome. This sort of informal influence has proved powerful in other cultures--particularly premodern Japan, where retired shoguns and Emperors continued to make pivotal decisions. Thus, just by watching from the sidelines, Ratzinger will be subtly able to champion his conservative theological and social policies--an über-Pope of sorts.

This statement is true. Actually many incumbent Emperors were just nominal and powerless in Japan during the Middle Ages and controlled by retired emperors behind the curtain.

We call this “informal influence“ of the retired ruler or leader including chairman of a company ‘Insei – 院政 in Japanese, and ‘Readers English Japanese Dictionary’ at hand translates ‘Insei’ to ‘rule by a retired emperor – insei.”

Although Readers Dictionary shows the word “Insei,” as if it is already adopted to English language like 'Mikado' or ‘Shogun,’ I doubt its currency as an English word.

With that said, what is the English counterpart of “Insei” in shorter form, say two words, than “rule by a cloistered emperor”?

Solution 1:

Perhaps you want “elder statesman”, sometimes used to refer to a retired politician (especially one whom the current leaders consult).